E-kata not Olympic qualifier

MANILA, Philippines — There’s no stopping Orencio James (OJ) de los Santos from dominating the e-kata world circuit where he’s ranked No. 1 but Karate Pilipinas Sports Federation Inc. (KPSFI) president Ricky Lim said yesterday while the Cebu two-time SEA Games bronze medalist has collected 38 gold medals since the pandemic broke out last year, the virtual competitions are not qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics.

Karate will make its Olympic debut this year with 60 participants in kumite (sparring) and 20 in kata (form). It’s one of five sports to be introduced in the Tokyo calendar with baseball/softball, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing. So far, 35 athletes, both male and female, have qualified for kumite, leaving 25 tickets available, including six Tripartite Commission Invitations or wildcards. Hoping to make it for the Philippines are Junna Tsukii (55 kg), Joane Orbon (61 kg) and Jamie Lim (+61 kg) in women and Alwyn Batican (67 kg), Ivan Agustin (75 kg) and Sharief Afif (+75 kg) in men. Lim said there are no Olympic aspirants in kata from KPSFI.

De los Santos, 31, won SEA Games bronze medals in kata in 2011 and 2017. He failed to make the national team for the 2019 edition. “We organized a faceoff between OJ and Joko Vasquez to determine who would compete in the SEA Games as agreed by our Turkish head coach (Okay Arpa) and our Filipino coaches,” said Lim. “They did two rounds. The scoring was transparent with Asia-level judges and Joko won. I understand that judging in kata involves perception and subjectivity but that’s how it went. Joko went on to win a bronze in both individual and team in the SEA Games. We explained to OJ that although he didn’t make it to the team, the door is open for him to try out for the coming competitions. We were supposed to host the SEA Karate Federation Championships last year but we had to postpone because of COVID.”

Lim said De los Santos deserves credit for staying active in on-line kata competitions. “Masipag si OJ, he joins every virtual tournament he can,” said Lim. “Kudos to him. I’ve come out in public to congratulate him, to acknowledge his feat. Hindi madali ang ginagawa niya. It’s unfortunate that e-kata has no relationship with the World Karate Federation so it’s not a qualifier for the Olympics. It’s more a club-type championship, not involving national teams. E-kata is supported by a karate scoring equipment supplier. Of course, e-kata is virtual and it’s different from live or actual face-to-face competition.”

Lim said De los Santos’ winning streak in e-kata should boost his confidence in trying out once more for the national team when competitions are back. “Before the last SEA Games, OJ lost in the first round of five high-level tournaments abroad and in the SEA Karate Championships that year, he finished No. 7 or No. 8 among 10 competitors,” he said. “But his performance in e-kata is encouraging.” The other day, De los Santos topped the 1st Inner Strength Martial Arts International E-Tournament, defeating Slovenia’s Nejc Sternisa, 25.4-24.6 in kata. He is No. 1 in the world e-kata ladder with 19,470 points with Switzerland’s Matias Moreno-Domont a distant second with 10,020 points.