Delos Santos sustains fine form

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino James delos Santos sustained his juggernaut in the world online karate circuit and topped the e-Champions Trophy World Series yesterday to hike his total to 19 gold medals during the pandemic.

The 30-year-old Delos Santos outclassed Silvio Cerone-Biagioni of South Africa, 25.2-23.7, in sealing another tournament victory in 34 competitions since he started joining online events last March.

The recent feat by the two-time Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist, who bested Alfredo Bustamante of the United States, 24.8-24.3, in the semifinals, should further keep his foothold as world No. 1 in online karate.

And it appears like he has no plans of slowing down.

“There are 12 tournaments for this month and also for the Christmas season and I’m planning to join all that, which means I will not be having a holiday break,” said Delos Santos.

In the finals, Delos Santos said he did everything for 30 minutes because the mall they were using as venue decided to close early as part of its safety measures against Super Typhoon Rolly.