James De Los Santos wins gold in Venice Cup

Another gold for James De Los Santos.

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—James De Los Santos continues his dominance in the online kata game after scoring another gold in the Venice Cup.

The former Southeast Asian Games gold medalist defeated Nejc Sternisa of Slovenia, 25.2-23.7, in the final to clinch his 12th gold medal for the year.

The result brings De Los Santos closer to the top spot in the world rankings especially that the current number one online karateka right now, Portugal's Eduardo Garcia, exited early into the competition.

Garcia dropped a slim 23.7-23.9 decision in the first round to Hugh Connolly of Ireland, who lost to Sternisa in the quarterfinals by a small margin as well.

De Los Santos, on the other hand, had a free ride to the final after his supposed semifinal opponent, Matias Moreno of Switzerland, begged off due to an illness.

De Los Santos earlier beat Canada's Scott Taylor and Luxembourg's Kevin Petry.

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