MANILA, Philippines — James “OJ” delos Santos is inching closer to catching up with World No. 1 Eduardo Garcia of Portugal after topping two online tournaments including the strong Sportdata e-Tournament World Series where the Filipino karateka topped the latter.
The 30-year-old Delos Santos edged Garcia, 24.8, 24.5, to rule the Arawaza-backed World Series while trouncing Alves Murilo of Brazil, 24.6-23.6, in the Hatamoto Kai Mitad Del Mundo E-Tournament on the same day to hike his gold-medal haul to 10.
More importantly, the two-time SEA Games bronze medalist earned enough points to close the gap between him and Garcia, whom he has beaten twice in a row now.