De los Santos relishes memorable evening
CEBU, Philippines — Cebuano world No.1 e-karateka Orencio James “OJ” de los Santos raised his total gold-medal haul of the year to eight after topping the second leg of the SportData eTournament World Series, the biggest virtual karate tournament.
The 30-year-old De los Santos edged Andrei Gabriel Nedelcu of Romania in the final round via a close 24.3-24 decision.
Interestingly, the two-time Southeast Asian (SEA) Games bronze medalist bagged his eighth gold while watching the Gawad Lasalyano 2020-Gabi Ng Parangal to receive his award from De La Salle University-Manila last Friday night.
De los Santos was feted by his beloved alma mater for his stirring exploits in the field of sports.
At the height of the pandemic last year, De los Santos gave hope and lifted the spirits of his fellow countrymen after emerging as the highest ranked online karateka in the world - a feat he is likely to duplicate this year.
“This victory will place me even up further in the virtual kata world rankings,” said the pride of International Shotokan Karate Federation of the Philippines.
What makes De los Santos more prouder is that his kata student kata student Fatima A-Isha Lim Hamsain also pocketed gold in the U15 women’s eKumite event. Hamsain outclassed Micol Genta of Italy in the final, 2-1. — EBV
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