Delos Santos keeps sizzling streak

MANILA, Philippines — James “OJ” delos Santos carried his golden streak into the Tokaido Maribor Open E-Tournament yesterday, enabling him to close in on world No. 1 Eduardo Garcia of Portugal.

Delos Santos, 30, kept his dominance of Matias Moreno Domont of Switzerland with an emphatic 5-0 win to claim his 11th gold medal in online karate tournaments the past four months.

Trailing Garcia by a mile, 3870-7075, a few weeks back, the two-time SEA Games bronze medalist has chopped down the deficit to just 7105-8125 in the latest rankings.

“I just need a few more tournaments to reach No. 1, and the grind must go on,” said Delos Santos.

The feat turned sweeter after Delos Santos’ student, Fatima A-Isha Lim Hamsain, bested Jelizaveta Vasiljeva of Latvia, 4-1, to reign supreme in the U15 women’s kata division.

Julia Ian Marcos settled for a bronze in the U21 women’s kata.

“What made me happier was that a few of my students started competing in kata, and I’m very glad to have assisted them,” said Delos Santos.