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I proudly raise this virtual flag with triumph. I AM THE NEW WORLD NO. 1 eKATA PLAYER.☝🏻🇵🇭 🌎 When I competed in my first virtual tournament last April, I found that there were a series of virtual tournaments and a world ranking system organized by SportData. When I hit the no. 2 spot back in August 6, I was behind by nearly 3000 points to no.1. I thought to myself, “Wow that’s a big gap. How am I ever going to reach that?” I was discouraged at first, but my kata coach 🇯🇵, Masa Saito, reminded me to take it one tournament at a time. After 7 months of competing in so many tournaments on a weekly basis, the hard work has paid off; it is now official. I am the No.1 in the eKata World Ranking. 1️⃣ 🌎 🏆 However, the journey isn’t over. My new goal is to maintain the no. 1 spot throughout the year. This is a much bigger challenge, as there will be other eKata players who want the no. 1 spot as well. But this will keep me grinding and motivated. ᜋᜊᜓᜑᜌ᜔ ᜋ᜔ᜄ ᜀᜆ᜔ᜎᜒᜆᜅ᜔ ᜉᜒᜈᜓᜂᜌ᜔ ᜋᜃᜉᜓᜈ᜔ᜌᜄᜒ Mabuhay, Mga Atletang Pinoy Makapunyagi. 👊🏻🔥🇵🇭 #karate #kata #world #numberone #victorious #hardwork #perseverance #persistence #sport #sports #martialarts #pride

A post shared by James De los Santos (@james_de_los_santos) on Oct 15, 2020 at 3:13am PDT

Filipino karateka James de los Santos reached the top spot in the men's online kata world rankings based on his strong showing in recent competition, including the Sportdata e-Tournament World Series.

Based on the recent rankings of the E-Kata Male Individual Seniors, de los Santos accumulated 8,950 points, placing him ahead of Portuguese rival Eduardo Garcia (8,575 points).

"After 7 months of competing in so many tournaments on a weekly basis, the hard work has paid off; it is now official. I am the No.1 in the eKata World Ranking," said De los Santos in his Instagram post.

• Karate: James delos Santos pockets 2 more virtual kata golds

The 2-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist has collected medal after medal in successive online tourneys to reach the spot.

"When I hit the no. 2 spot back in August 6, I was behind by nearly 3000 points to no.1. I thought to myself, “Wow that’s a big gap. How am I ever going to reach that?” I was discouraged at first, but my kata coach 🇯🇵, Masa Saito, reminded me to take it one tournament at a time," said de los Santos, who picked up his 10th gold medal when he beat Garcia in the SportData final.

But his work is not yet done, De Los Santos said.

"My new goal is to maintain the no. 1 spot throughout the year. This is a much bigger challenge, as there will be other eKata players who want the no. 1 spot as well. But this will keep me grinding and motivated," he said.