Big Chinese show seen in Olympic qualifying

China, Asia’s superpower in sports, is determined to stamp its mark in the 22nd Asian Olympic Boxing qualifying which started yesterday at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum in Palawan.

In a no-nonsense bid to steal the thunder from the traditional powers in Asian boxing, China is competing in all the 11 weight divisions to be contested in the event, considered as the biggest gathering ever of Asia’s leading boxers.

"Make no mistake about it, the Chinese team is going to give the favorites a lot of headaches. China has improved a lot," said ABAP president Manny Lopez, who is already in the capital city of Palawan, dubbed as the country’s Last Frontier.

China, same with world-class Kazakhstan, is already deep in training in Puerto Princesa. Also in Puerto Princesa are Qatar, Uzbekistan, the two Koreas, Japan, Tajikistan, India, Chinese-Taipei and Thailand, the Philippines’ bitterest rival in the Southeast Asian Games.

While saying that everything is in readiness for the country’s biggest sporting event, Lopez said he is still waiting for the arrival of Agfhanistan and Iran, two teams which confirmed their participation.

A total of 24 slots for the Athens Olympics are up for grabs in the qualifying. Pakistan and China will also host Asian qualifiers later this year. A total of 62 boxers will represent Asia in the Athens Olympics.

Leading China’s assault is light-flyweight Zou Shiming, who stunned the international boxing world when as a first timer, he salvaged the bronze medal in last year’s World Championships in Bangkok.

Others in the team are flyweight Liu Shih-Jung, bantamweight Yseng Tzu Chiang, featherweight Chung Chun Un, lightweight Hsieh Huang Chen, lightwelterweight Chang Hsiao-Chih, welterweight Liu Tai Chin, middleweight Liu Yen Chun, heavyweight Liu Chia Fu, and superheavyweight Liao Sheng Hao.