James de los Santos snared two more gold medals to add to his growing collection that also affirmed him as e-kata’s top dog in the world.
De los Santos used the sharpest routine in his arsenal, the unsu, to defeat Hungary’s Botong Nagy, 24.9-24-5, on Tuesday in the Katana Intercontinental League 4 final.
“It’s was a very meaningful win because my final opponent, Nagy, is Hungary’s best kata player. He is an Olympic hopeful,” De los Santos said of his opponent.
The win was the 25th for the Filipino two-time Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist, and he claimed the scalp of the 34th-ranked Nagy, a Guinness World Record holder.
De los Santos displayed the mastery of unsu, which involves many intricate hand techniques and a show-stopping 360-degree spinning double kick with double leg takedown.
Nagy, one of the best in his discipline, holds the record for the quickest roundhouse kick, 0.476 seconds, which he set two years ago.
Just two days prior, De los Santos ruled the most prestigious tournament of the season, the Sportdata e-Tournament World Series Kata, where he bested Swiss Matias Moreno Domont, 24.9-23.7, for his 24th gold medal.