Lankans among Asia's Olympic hopefuls

KARACHI, Sunday (AFP) - Asia's Olympic medal hopefuls will compete in the first-ever Asian junior boxing championships starting in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Monday, a senior official said Sunday.

China, host of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is taking part in the contest which aims to counter European and American dominance in the Olympic ring.

"This is the first step towards grooming young Asian boxers for the 2008 Olympics and in three years they will give a tough fight to the boxers of Europe and America," said Anwar Chowdhry, president of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA). Asia won four medals at the Athens Olympics last year.

Besides China, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, hosts Pakistan, India, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong are taking part.

War-ravaged Afghanistan, whose entry to the Olympics was revived last year after they were suspended in 1999 because of the Taliban's ban on women athletes, has also sent three boxers.

The championships will feature all eleven weights and will finish on June 25.