De los Santos cops 8th gold medal

WHEN he’s not recording routines for online karate competitions, e-kata king James de los Santos spends his time streaming and singing in Kumu, a Filipino video sharing, e-commerce and social networking service.

James de los Santos
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Unknown to many, de los Santos is a streamer, and the majority of his content is all about singing. The 31-year-old karateka uses this to relax from competitions.

“Aside from competing, I’m also a very active streamer in Kumu. It’s really all about proper time management. My competitions are usually done in the afternoon, and I stream in the morning or evening,” de los Santos told The Manila Times.

The Cebuano athlete is doing a Kumu campaign, the Metro Body Star, where he has to stream twice a day.

“I’m more of singing in my streams because that’s something a lot of Filipinos enjoy most while watching streams in Kumu. My mom and my two sisters are also verified streamers in Kumu as well. I also try to stream my virtual tournaments when the signal reception allows it,” he said.

De los Santos had a double celebration on Saturday morning as he won his eighth gold medal in the second leg of the SportData eTournament World Series. At the same time, he received the Gawad Lasalyano 2020 award from his alma mater, De La Salle University Manila, for his exemplary record in the field of karate.

De los Santos of the International Shotokan Karate Federation defeated Gabriel Andrei Nedelcu of Romania in the championship match, solidifying further his hold on the e-kata world No. 1 ranking.

He defeated William Tran of Sweden in round of 32, outlasted Markus Hecht of Germany in round 16, beat Cornelius Johnsen of Norway in the quarterfinals and won against Silvio Cerone-Biagioni of South Africa in the semis.