ONCE again, Filipino karateka superstar James de los Santos pulled off another jaw-dropping performance as he bagged the second hat trick in his career by winning the gold medals in the Okinawa E-Tournament World Series No. 3, Third Dutch Open E-Tournament and Athlete’s E-Tournament Finale.
De los Santos shared his most recent success last Monday night on his official Facebook page.
He defeated Matias Domont Moreno of Switzerland to win the Okinawa E-Tournament World Series No. 3, 25.3 – 24.4. He then defeated South Africa’s Silvio Cerone-Biagioni in the Third Dutch Open E-Tournament. And en route to his win in the Athlete’s E-Tournament Finale, he defeated Alfredo Bustamante of the United States.
Those three wins over the three of the top five ranking eKata players in the world now puts 33 gold medals under the belt of the two-time Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist despite being only 30-years-old.
In an interview with The Manila Times, de los Santos shared how special it was for him to win the second hat trick in his career in such a short amount of time.
“I was very happy to score a hat trick for the first time. But to score another one a second time? I surprised myself there. It’s another personal record and achievement for me,” he admitted.
For some, retirement would already on their minds if they were able to reach the success of De Los Santos. But for him, the idea of hanging up his belt is still very far from his mind.
“Right now, I’m just going with the flow. If there are more virtual tournaments next year, I’d love to join until the whole world returns to normal. When you really love your sport, it’s hard to stop. About hanging it up, I honestly don’t know. Only time can tell. I’ll cross the bridge when I get there,” he stated.
De los Santos has certainly had a solid 2020, but he is looking to end it on an even stronger note.
As of the moment, he is still waiting for the results of the Katana Intercontinental League Super Finale. He is also competing in the Golden League Finale today and in the E-Karate Games Grand Winner E-Tournament.
As the No. 1 ranked eKata player in the world, de los Santos’ points increased to 15,710 points; further increasing the gap between him and the rest of the pact in the world rankings.
Apart from de los Santos’ success, Fatima A-Isha Lim Hamsain took home bronze medal in the Under-18 Female eKata division, and the gold medal in the Under-15 Female eKumite from the Okinawa E-Tournament World Series.