PH karateka clinches world No. 2 rank in virtual karateka

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

Philippine pride James delos Santos achieved another milestone in his stellar career by landing on the world No. 2 spot of the virtual kata discipline.

After bagging another gold medal in the Balkan Open last Sunday, the PH karateka racked his points up to 3,270 to overtake Leonardo Birra of Italy in the male individual senior rankings.

“The hard training is paying off and the points have been added. I’ve jumped to No. 2 in the virtual kata world rankings,” delos Santos said.

During the prized virtual kata event, Santos edged South Africa’s Silvio Cerone-Biagoni during the final stage, scoring 24.1 to his opponent’s 23.8.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Delos Santos began joining various online kata tournaments, which started last March, and decided to keep it consistent with the aim of making it into the top five.

He then decided to join the Balkan Open series that proved to be the boost in his bid to aim higher.

“The journey to No. 1 won’t be easy. But that will give me more reason to train harder,” he added.