Cebuano karateka OJ delos Santos keeps on making the country proud

CEBU, Philippines — Multi-titled Cebuano karateka Orencio James “OJ” de los Santos continues to make the country proud with his stirring exploits on the international stage.

Last Thursday, De los Santos proudly announced on his Facebook page that he leapt from No.2 to No.3 in the e-kata world rankings.

“The hard training is paying off and the points have been added. I’ve jumped to No.2 in the virtual kata world rankings. The journey to number 1 won’t be easy. But that will give me more reason to train harder. Laban Pilipinas,” wrote De los Santos.

The 30-year-old De los Santos became the world’s second best online karateka next to Portugal’s Eduardo Garcia after he dominated the Balkan Open last August 2. He overtook Italy’s Leonardo Birra.

“Honestly, I thought I would still be at No.3 just by a few points behind.  There were other tournament that I joined but didn’t make it far. However, they also added points along with my recent gold medal win, surprisingly enough for me to climb to No.2,”  De los Santos shared.

His solid showing in at least a dozen competitions online he participated in over the past four months that earned him three golds, one silver and one bronze should open the door for his possible return to the Philippine team.

But for now, that’s the least of De los Santos’ concerns.

The two-time Southeast Asian (SEA) Games bronze medalist thumbed down a potential reunion with his former Phl teammates after he was unceremoniously bumped out of the national squad in last year’s 30th SEA Games hosted by the country.

“With all that has happened in the last SEAG, it wouldn’t be possible with this current NSA (national sports association) and especially with the way I was removed from the SEAG lineup,” De los Santos told Joey Villar of The Philippine STAR.

Despite that mindset, De los Santos kept on finding ways to bring honor and pride to his fellow countrymen.

“I’m currently competing in the Athlete’s E-Tournament, which is hosted by Russia online and hopefully I could gain more world ranking points there,” said delos Santos.