James de los Santos is new world’s No. 1 e-Kata player

James de los Santos is now the world’s No. 1 in virtual kata rankings.

“I proudly raise this flag with triumph. I am the new world no. 1 eKata player,” he announced on social media Thursday.

The Filipino karateka has won 15 gold medals in virtual karate since April, taking home two more golds this week at the 1st Euro Grand Prix e-Tournament and the e-Karate Games.

De los Santos said that when he competed in his first virtual tournament in April, he learned that “there was a series of virtual tournaments and a world ranking system organized by SportData.”

He said on Aug. 6, when he hit the No. 2 spot, he was behind by nearly 3,000 points to No. 1.

“I thought to myself, ‘wow that’s a big gap. How am I ever going to reach that’” he said, adding that while he was discouraged at first, his kata coach Masa Saito reminded him to “take it one tournament at a time.”

De los Santos said after 7 months of competing in so many tournaments on a weekly basis, “the hard work has paid off; it is now official. I am the No.1 in the eKata World Ranking.” – RC, GMA News