James De Los Santos (File photo)
MANILA – The Philippines pocketed three gold medals in the Inner Strength International E-Tournament following the release of the finals results on Thursday.
James de los Santos solidified his status as the world No. 1 in the men's seniors category after winning it all in the said division.
De los Santos defeated Nejc Sternisa of Slovenia, 25.4-24.6, in the gold medal match.
He first defeated George Phillips of Great Britain in the quarterfinals before beating outright semifinalist Matias Domont of Switzerland for the right to face Sternisa.
With the win, de los Santos, who before the tournament has already amassed 19,470 points, is expected to widen his lead over Domont, the world No. 2 with 10,020, in the eKata rankings.
Meanwhile, Fatima Hamsain, one of de los Santos' proteges, won the other two golds.
Hamsain, ranked number 46 in the female under-16 division, first stunned world No. 6 Jelizaveta Vasiljeva of Latvia in the final of the said category, 24.1-23.8.
She made waves in the female under-18 division by winning over Marie Zinecker of Germany in their own gold medal duel, 24-23.5.
Thanks to the under-16 gold, Hamsain will leapfrog significantly in the world rankings.
"This will further boost our standing in the eKata world rankings," de los Santos said. (PNA)
