James De Los Santos opens 2021 with another gold

James De Los Santos' 2021 campaign is off to a good start. From his Facebook account

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—Brand new year, brand new gold medal conquest successful.

Right in his first e-kata tournament for 2021, James De Los Santos bagged a gold medal, ruling the first edition of the SportData eTournament World Series for the year.

The world number one e-kata karateka continued from where he left off last Christmas, beating Silvio Cerone-Biagioni of South Africa in the final, 25.3-24.5.

De Los Santos, who took a bye in the first round, first defeated Nicolas Perea of France in the Round of 16, 24.9-23.

De Los Santos would then beat Cornelius Johnsen of Norway, 24.5-23.1, in the quarterfinals and Germany-based Thai Nawapon Pattanasakoo, 24.6-23.8, in the semifinals.

"There will be more tournaments ahead, and this is a great motivator to start with!" De Los Santos said after confirming the results on Saturday.

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