Pinoy karate star James De Los Santos won the silver medal at the Adidas Karate World Open Series 2020.
The country’s national athlete was actually first declared the winner of his final battle but was afterward declared runner up at the Karate e-sport event held on July 22, 2020.
The multi-medalist martial arts athlete shared on social media the story of winning his 5th medal from online tournaments he joined in the past months amid the COVID 19 pandemic that moved sporting events to the virtual platform.
“I just concluded the Adidas Karate World Open Series #2. Snagged the silver medal,” the 30-year-old De Los Santos said on his Facebook on July 25.
The Pinoy karateka first defeated his opponent from Brazil in Round 16, then he bested Slovenian athlete in quarterfinals to reach the semifinals where he beat the South African delegate.
“I reached the final round and faced my rival from Portugal; the same player that I faced at the SportData E-Tournament World Series last May,” the Pinoy player continued.
After winning against Portugal, the Filipino-American athlete admitted his confusion regarding the changes in their scores the day after the international online tilt.
“I woke up around 6 AM the next day and found out that I won against Portugal, 24.7 – 24.1,” James narrated. “It was an amazing feeling. But nearly 12 hours later, the scores were changed all of a sudden to 24.7 – 25.1, giving the victory to Portugal. This is a first time that this happened since the scores are supposed to be final once displayed. This would also never be allowed to happen in an actual tournament.”
Despite the confusion as to what really happened, the Pinoy karate star athlete accepted the result and showed his character of being a good sport.
“I won gold for a while, but in the end, I snagged the silver medal. I don’t know the reason why this happened. But that’s the way it goes sometimes. All we have to do is stand tall and keep moving forward.”
De Los Santos thanked his all supporters and said that he will bear in mind the lessons he got from the competition to his future tournaments.
“On to the next!” he concluded.
With his successful participation at the Adidas Karate World Open Series 2020, De Los Santos expects that his World Virtual Kata Rankings to move up to No. 3.
“I was No. 4. Then recently, I’m at no. 5. But after this tournament, they’ll update (the rankings) again since it adds points. With my latest silver win, I might land at No. 3,” James De Los Santos told media.
Just in June, the Filipino karate superstar has won a bronze at the 1st Dutch Open E-Tournament, following his stint at the E-Tournament Korokotta Cup 2020 where he snagged gold.
SEND CONGRATULATIONS in the comments below to Pinoy karate star athlete James De Los Santos for winning silver at the Adidas Karate World Open Series 2020!
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