Uzbek pugs head foreign cast arrivals

MANILA, Philippines - The Uzbekistan youth team is flying in today ahead of everybody else in preparation for the 2013 ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships which fires off March 10-17 at Subic gym in this coastal town south of Zambales.

The Uzbeks are expected to be led by recently named national coach Mars Kucharov who steered the Korean boxing team to a silver medal finish in the London Olympics. Kucharov has also trained boxers in Taiwan and China.

“Obviously, they want to acclimatize early which is a sure sign of their earnest desire to win,” said Ricky Vargas, president of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines, who is overseeing the tournament backed by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, PLDT, Smart, Maynilad, Metro Pacific Tollways, Clarktel, Subictel, Department of Tourism, Tourism Promotions Board, Videogear Inc., Exile Lights and Sound, Philippine Olympic Committee, and the Philippine Sports Commission.

The ABAP-PLDT Philippine team has drawn from the youth pool and will parade James Palicte (60 kgs), Jade Bornea (49 kgs.), Ian Clark Bautista (52 kgs), Jonas Bacho (56 kgs), and Eumir Felix Marcial (64 kgs).

Teams from Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka will arrive on Saturday followed by the main bulk of participating Asian countries, including China, on Sunday, said ABAP executive director Ed Picson.

After the accreditation at the Subic International Hotel and a technical meeting late Sunday, the medical and general weigh-in and the official draw will be held Monday.

A one-hour opening ceremony at 5 p.m. is wedged between two sets of preliminary bouts.

AIBA president Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu is gracing the inaugural rites along with Asian Boxing Confederation president Gofur Rakhimov of Uzbekistan and ASBC executive director Aziz Kozhambetov.