2006-03-15 

   (BEIJING, March 15) -- Chinese boxers are engaged in busy training and striving to draw on experiences of their foreign counterparts with an aim to perform better at the 2008 Olympic Games.

   A Chinese team of strong lineup left Beijing on March 14 on a 25-day tour of Italy, Azerbaijan and Finland, the Chinese Sports Daily reported.

   The team includes boxers of all 11 weight divisions at last year's Mianyang world championships and five coaches, a lineup rarely seen in the team's recent trips abroad, the paper said.

   "The boxers are expected to reflect the effect of their winter training in Shenzhen since December last year, widen their vision of the levels of foreign boxers and take the opportunity to fight with them," head coach Zhang Chuanliang said.

   "All in all, they will enhance training through competition, with an aim to become more prepared for the 2008 Olympiad," he added.

   The team's itinerary comprises trainings and educational matches with Italian boxers and international invitation competitions in Azerbaijan and Finland. After returning from the trip, they will compete at the National Championships scheduled for April 18 in Mianyang of Sichuan, southwest of China. At the invitation of Cuba, a world powerhouse, the Chinese will go to an international championships in Havana at the end of April.

   Although China's Zou Shiming won the first gold medal of the world championships in the Chinese boxing history last year, there still exists a big gap between China and the world level, but we will fully display our wisdom and explore new tactics to make our foes trouble, said Zhang.

   Zou Shiming captured the light fly-weight title in the 48kg (106 lbs) division at the 13th World Senior Amateur Boxing Championships in Mianyang on November 20, 2005.