OJ strikes back at old foe, hits gold

MANILA, Philippines — Third time’s a charm for Filipino karateka OJ delos Santos.

Beaten each time in their previous two encounters, Delos Santos roared back with a vengeance, beating World No. 1 Eduardo Garcia of Portugal by the slimmest of margins to rule the Athletes’ E-Tournament Tuesday.

“I finally got him,” delos Santos, ranked No. 2 in the world of online karate, told The STAR.

The 30-year-old Delos Santos edged his fancied rival, 25-24.9, to capture his fourth gold medal. It was his first win against Garcia following defeats in the SportsData E-Tournament World Series in May and Adidas Karate World Open Series 2 early this month.

“It’s the third time I faced him (Garcia) in a final showdown,” said Delos Santos. “This victory means a lot. This will motivate me to train harder for the upcoming virtual tournaments.”

The two-time SEA Games bronze medalist said the key to victory was changing his kata style to Unsu from Sansai as advised by his Japanese coach Masa Saito.

“My first two times were unlucky. I have to admit, he’s a tough player to beat. But my coach and my parents suggested I use my favorite kata Unsu and it paid off,” said Delos Santos.

The first time they met, Delos Santos lost in a close showdown, 24.2-24.5.The second time, he was initially declared winner before organizers said there was a scoring glitch, and handed the trophy to Garcia instead.

This time, Delos Santos had the last laugh.

It was a redemption of sorts for Delos Santos, who was bumped off the national team that saw action in the Southeast Asian Games in December last year.

Delos Santos said his next step is to catch Garcia at No. 1. But he would need more victories like this one to accomplish the goal.

“Hopefully, I could cling to that hope of catching up on him at No. 1,” he said.