LONDON, April 26: Nine Australians reached the Beijing Olympics boxing tournament after an Oceania qualifying tournament in Samoa.

One boxer from Samoa (light heavyweight Satupaitea Farani Tavui) and one from Papua New Guinea (light flyweight Jack Willie) also earned tickets to the Aug. 8-24 Games after the ninth of 10 qualifiers around the world.

The final pre-Olympic tournament, for the Americas, is taking place in Guatemala City.

Russia has 11 boxers qualified for Beijing, while Morocco, China and Kazakhstan have 10, and Cuba nine so far.

The Beijing event includes 11 weight classes and will feature 286 male boxers. —Reuters