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‘I hope to return with good news’: Boxing star Rex Tso flies to Jordan for Olympic qualifiers after switch from coronavirus epicentre Wuhan

  • The ‘Wonder Kid’ has been given an extra month to prepare for the Asia/Oceanic qualifiers now that it has been moved to Amman from March 3 to 11
  • The former unbeaten professional boxer would need to be at his very best to have a chance of qualifying for Tokyo

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Hong Kong boxer Rex Tso (right) has a difficult task in Amman, Jordan in the Asia/Oceania Olympic qualifiers. Photo: Winson Wong

Former unbeaten professional Rex Tso Sing-yu can be forgiven for being more apprehensive of his opposition than the coronavirus after flying to Jordan on Monday for the Olympic qualifiers.

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The “Wonder Kid” has experienced an anxious five weeks after the coronavirus, now called Covid-19, threw the Asia/Oceania qualifiers in disarray earlier this month.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board decided that the original venue for the qualifiers had to be moved away from Wuhan – epicentre of the deadly outbreak – and that a new city had to come in at short notice.

Rex Tso is interviewed at the airport. Photo: HKTVB
Rex Tso is interviewed at the airport. Photo: HKTVB

With the IOC deciding that Amman would stage the tournament from March 3 to 11, it has given Hong Kong’s “Wonder Kid” a little more time to prepare for the enviable task at hand.

“The qualifying tournament was supposed to have been held at the beginning of this month but due to the coronavirus [outbreak], I’ve been given another month to prepare for it, so it’s not all too bad,” said 32-year-old Tso, who still holds an impressive 22-0-0 (13 KOs) professional record before he turned amateur in November 2018.

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