Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26) – World no. 1 e-kata athlete James de los Santos raised his gold haul this year to 11 after winning two tournaments this week.
On Monday, the Filipino karateka secured the gold in the second leg of the E-Karate World Series after defeating regular opponent Silvio Cerone-Biogioni of South Africa.
On Friday, de los Santos clinched his 11th gold after edging world no. 2 Matias Moreno-Domont of Switzerland, 25.8 – 24.4, in the finals of the second leg of the Budva Winner-Adria Cup. He prevailed against a karateka from Norway in the quarterfinals and an American bet in the semifinals.
With another pair of victories, De Los Santos maintains his hold as the world’s best e-kata athlete with a total of 23,360 points. Moreno-Domont is at far second with 11,985 points, while Cerone-Biogioni followed with 9,840 points.
Meanwhile, de los Santos’ students at the Maharlika Karatedo Kai of the Philippines International are also giving pride to the country in e-kata tournaments.
Fatima A-Isha Lim Hamsain took home three golds and one bronze this week. On Monday, she both topped the U-16 and U-18 female e-kata divisions in the second leg of the E-Karate World Series. In the second leg of the Budva Winner-Adria Cup, the Taguig-based female karateka snared the gold in the U-16 category and bronze in the U-18 bracket.
Christina Colonia finished with the silver medal in the U-18 category of the Budva Winner-Adria Cup second leg, making it two podium finishes for the Filipinos in the said division.
