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Friday, March 29, 2024

De los Santos, lady teammate bag gold in Okinawa meet

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A turning kick done in a very slow and precise manner ended world no. 2-ranked James de los Santos’ routine.

This allowed the 30-year-old De los Santos to claim one of two gold medals won by Filipino competitors Thursday evening in the first leg of the Okinawa E-Tournament Series kata competitions.

The move, known as the unsu kick, pushed De los Santos to a 25.26-24.6 triumph in his virtual duel with Swiss rival Matias Domont in the individual male seniors’ category.

“In this kata, the highlight has always been the jump near the end. It’s what the audience usually anticipates,” said De los Santos on his presentation.

This gave de los Santos his 13th straight gold medal this year, keeping him on track for the no. 1 spot in the world rankings.

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World no. 1 Eduard Garcia still ahead with 8575 points, but De los Santos is close with 8110 at no. 2 spot.

Two of the three female aspirants from Maharlika Karatedo Kai of the Philippines International joined De los Santos in claiming medals, with Julie Marcos getting the higher accolade.

The 18-year-old Marcos, a Grade 12 student in Sen. Renato Companero Cayetano Memorial in Taguig City, picked up a gold medal after defeating Ida Olafsen of Norway, 24.4-23.2, in the women’s under-21 action.

Fatima A-Isha Lim Hamsain, 14-year-old eighth grader and schoolmate of Marcos, settled for the bronze in the under-15 side where she bowed to Norwegian Marion Wester, 23.8-24.26, in the women’s under-15 event.

“The wins of these two MKKPI students made it sweeter for me,” said De los Santos, who added the top spot in the world rankings remains in his dreams as he enters his 14th competition, the Euro Grand Prix finals.

“The no. 1 spot is not far away,” said De los Santos. 

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