Vijender, 3 others to compete in China tourney

New Delhi: Aiming to test themselves against top Asian rivals ahead of the Commonwealth Championships in

March, Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh and three other Indian boxers will leave for China tomorrow morning to compete in an invitational prize money event starting February 1. The quartet of Vijender (75kg), Dinesh Kumar (81kg), Akhil Kumar (57kg) and Thokchom Nanao Singh (48kg) comprise the Indian challenge at the Champion of Champions event being organised by the Asian Boxing Confederation in the Chinese city of Guangzhou. The organisers have invited the top-four Asian boxers in each category and the tournament offers a cool USD 3,000 to every gold medallist. The small size of the draw means just two days of competition. Vijender has not competed since winning the historic bronze medal at the World Championships in Milan as he was nursing a wrist injury. "It is completely fine now and I am eager to test my fitness in this tournament. It`s a good opportunity," said said the 24-year-old. For Akhil, who has also been battling a nagging wrist injury for the past few months, it would be an opportunity to make a fresh start after a rather disappointing 2009. "I just hope that injuries don`t bother me the way they did last year. I am fit now and hopefully I would come back fit from China too," said the Beijing Olympics quarterfinalist. Another fit-again boxer in the team is Dinesh, who had fractured left hand to deal with until a few weeks ago. The light heavy weight broke his hand during a sparring session and had to miss the season-ending President`s Cup as a result. But with the injury now healed, Dinesh is raring to go. "It was disappointing to miss the President`s Cup but I am confident of making up for it in China," he said. Nanao would seek redemption for his disappointing early exit from the President`s Cup. "Let`s see what happens, it`s a very short tournament, quite interesting," he said. The team`s coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu is already in China. The Commonwealth Championships are scheduled from March 10 to 17 here. PTI