James de los Santos redeemed himself recently with podium finishes in two online karatedo tournaments.
Unable to compete last December in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, the 30-year-old De los Santos still found a way to stay fit and healthy while in home quarantine in the last four months of the lockdowns down throughout the country to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
After claiming a silver finish last May, De los Santos took home the gold medal last week in the Korokotta Cup 2020 E-Tournament.
“I’m really happy to win gold in this tournament. And in just a month, I was able to move in ranking,” said De los Santos in an online interview.
De los Santos showed his best foot forward in virtual kata when he outpointed 18 others from 11 nations.
His efforts allowed him to snare the top honors in the men’s senior individual kata category.
In the finals, De los Santos swept past South Africa’s Silvio Cerone-Biagionil, 5-0.
“After this, I will train hard to be able to join more tournaments,” said De los Santos, who was cut from the national team selection before the Southeast Asian Games.
Because of his podium finishes, De los Santos has risen from world no.6 to world no. 4 since May.
“Now, this motivates me to train even harder,” added De los Santos.
