On night he gets Gawad Lasalyano award, James De Los Santos wins 8th 2021 gold

From De Los Santos' Facebook account

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—It was a double victory for world number one e-kata player James De Los Santos on Friday night.

Just as La Salle feted him with a Gawad Lasalyano award for sports excellence, esports events website Sportdata also announced that De Los Santos also won the gold in the second edition of its E-Tournament World Series for this year.

De Los Santos edged Romanian opponent Andrel Nedelcu, 24.3-24, in the final.

Earlier in the event, De Los Santos defeated William Tran of Sweden in the first round, 25.4-24.3, Markus Hecht of Germany in the Round of 16, 24.5-23.2, Cornelius Johnsen of Norway in the quarterfinals, 24.5-23.4, and Silvio Cerone-Biagoni of South Africa in the semifinals, 24.9-24.1.

World number two Matias Domont of Switzerland did not participate in the event, which means Cerone-Biagoni, the world number three, can move up to second with his semifinal finish.

Meanwhile, De Los Santos, also an eight-time national champion, two-time Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist, and two-time world shotokan champion, expressed his gratitude to La Salle for the citation.

"Thank you again to my alma mater, De La Salle University - Manila, for the award and recognition!" he said on Saturday.

Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno