New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS): Indias women pugilists will begin their preparation for the AIBA World Youth Boxing Championship to be held in Guwahati later this year by taking part in the Ahmed Comert International Boxing Championship this week.

A 10-member squad took off for Istanbul in the early hours of Monday in the hope of getting valuable match practice against some of the best boxers in the world.

Soniya and Jyoti (48 kilogram), Deepa and Parveen (54kg), Shashi Chopra (57kg), Ankushita Boro (60kg), Lalita (64kg), Tilotima Chanu (60 kg), Manisha (64 kg) and Niharika Gonella (75 kg) will participate in the week-long tournament which began on Monday.

The Ahmed Comert championship is an invitational event organised by the Turkish Boxing Federation every year which attracts all the top boxing nations.

"We have been training very hard for the last three months and the boxers are all set for the task at hand. Our aim is to clinch at least six to seven medals," Bergemesco Raffael, the Italian coach of the team, said.

"We have brought in some major changes and the boxers are using new tactics and styles. Everyone is performing better now. Although we will be looking more at gaining experience in this championship, we would still like to not lose sight of the medals either," the optimistic Italian added.