MANILA, Philippines – Filipino karateka James delos Santos climbed to World No. 6  after clinching a silver in his first Karate e-Tournament world series on Sunday, May 24. 

Delos Santos defeated Finland and barged into the final of the male e-kata event last Thursday, May 21, but fell to world No. 2 Eduardo Garcia of Portugal, who scored 24.5 over the Filipino’s 24.2. 

The country’s top kata athlete tallied a total of 1,115 ranking points from the competition to also become Asia’s No. 1 in the virtual discipline. 

“I’m very happy with the result. My love for karate won’t pass, and this gave me even more reason to hone my craft,” said Delos Santos, who was struck out of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games lineup due to internal politics in the sports association.

As the coronavirus pandemic put a stop to sporting events, Delos Santos was among the athletes who were able to adjust to the situation as he competed in the kata (forms) event of karate. 

The Filipino is currently being mentored online by his Japanese senseis in the International Shotokan Karate Federation, while undergoing conditioning training by coach Jay Futalan. 

While training for the world series competitions, Delos Santos is also teaching students who want to learn karate online. 

“I’m also teaching kata online to my students. I’m very open to accepting more, because I want to share my knowledge and experience as a kata competitor,” added Delos Santos – Rappler. com