Children of Asia Games – Preview
Final countdown to the Children of Asia Games
One of the next big Asian boxing competition will be the Children of Asia Games in Yakutsk in July where the continent’s best junior boxers can meet each other to decide the medals in 18 different weight classes.
The Children of Asia Games is a multisport event to promote Asia’s sport and culture among the young 14-17-year-old future hopes. The capital of the Sakha region in the Russian Federation Yakutsk has been hosting the events every four years and the next edition is already turns to the final countdown as only a few days are to go the start of the Games.
Asia’s top boxing nations and also the developing countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, India, Mongolia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, Tajikistan, Malaysia, Turkmenistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Chinese Taipei and Afghanistan hosted selection events before the upcoming Children of Asia Games.
The first edition was held in Yakutsk in 1996 and organized by the first President of the Sakha Republic Mikhail Nikolayev to commemorate the Centennial of the modern Olympic Games. The 2016 edition will be held once again in Yakutsk between 5-17 July and boxing is always on the official program. At the very first time the talented girls also can take part in the boxing tournament of the Children of Asia Games.
The boxing competition is a junior event, which means boxers who were born in 2000 and 2001 are eligible to compete in the Children of Asia Games.
Weight categories of the 2016 Children of Asia Games are the followings:
Women (15-16-years): 42 kg, 46 kg, 50 kg, 54 kg and 60 kg
Men (15-16-years): 46 kg, 48 kg, 50 kg, 52 kg, 54 kg, 57 kg, 60 kg, 63 kg, 66 kg, 70 kg, 75 kg, 80 kg and +80 kg
In the 2012 edition 108 junior boxers took part from the Asian countries and Russia plus Azerbaijan. Russia won seven gold medals on home soil, Kazakhstan claimed four titles while Azerbaijan two top positions in the boxing tournament of the 2012 Children of Asia Games in Yakutsk. Kazakhstan’s Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games winner and newly crowned boxer in the Bocskai Memorial Tournament Abylaykhan Zhussupov won the gold medal in Yakutsk four years ago.
Among the Asian developing boxing nations Bhutan, Kuwait, Palestine and United Arab Emirates took part in the boxing tournament of the last edition in 2012. All of the Olympic Council of Asia members have been invited to take part in the upcoming event, which is the most important competition for the Asian junior boxers in 2016.
You can visit and follow the competition in the official website of the event: http://yakutsk2016.com