MANILA, Philippines – National karateka James delos Santos sets a new milestone as he nailed a world No. 4 place in the men’s senior individual online kata rankings. 

The kata athlete’s golden performance in the Korokotta Cup 2020 e-Kata tournament on Monday, June 29, propelled him two places higher than world No. 6 place in May. 

Delos Santos tallied 1855 points from his recent performances, including the Adidas Karate Open World Series 2020 where he settled for a quarterfinal finish. 

The Filipino dominated South Africa’s Silvio Cerone-Biagionil, 5-0, to secure the gold in the Korokotta Cup, where 18 competitors from 11 nations competed. 

This is Delos Santos’ second world gold after the Palestine International Karate Cup in April.

Thanks to the online platform for kata, Delos Santos does not plan to stop training in order continue climbing up the world rankings. 

“I strongly believe that training is vital in any sport. But if you have the opportunity to compete, that’s the best way to evaluate your progress and to become better at your sport,” said Delos Santos.

“Lucky for me, there are online tournaments for the category in my sport, karate. I will continue to train and compete.”  

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. – Rappler.com