By James Crook

big KAZ 6538July 5 - With the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Universiade just one day away, the Tatarstan Boxing Federation President Ayrat Khamatov has announced that tickets for the final rounds of boxing events at Kazan 2013 have completely sold-out.

The preliminary rounds of the boxing events is due to get underway today at the Boxing Centre, which holds just under 2,000 spectators.

"The tickets for the final matches of the boxing tournament have been sold out and are no longer available for sale," said Khamatov.

"The venue is meant to hold 1,800 spectators and on July 10 it will be completely full,"

"Even yesterday evening, there was not a lot of tickets left for sale, and only around five percent were still available for the semi-final matches."

The boxing competition will feature 161 athletes from 35 nations vying for gold, and the competitors in the 52kg and under, 60kg, 64kg, 75kg, 81kg and 91kg and over categories will take their first step on the road to medals tonight.

MagomedOmarovOlympicsDay5BoxingPIBTXNniVAFlLondon 2012 Olympian Magomed Omarov is one of Russia's medal hopefuls in the boxing at Kazan 2013

The official tournament draw and weigh-in will take place today, with the final rounds in ten weight classes taking place on July 10.

Among those expected to attend the event is C K Wu, President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and one of six candidates to replace Jacques Rogge as President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). 

The host nation have high hopes for medals in boxing, and Russian head coach Ivan Shidlovsky has said that the Boxing Federation of Russia have set them an ambitious target for medals.

"The management of the Boxing Federation of Russia set the task for the national team to win eight medals at the Summer Universiade, including three gold, two silver and three bronze medals, and place first in the team ranking," he said. 

The opening ceremony of the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan will take place at the newly-built 45,000-seater Kazan Arena tomorrow.

Event tickets and Closing Ceremony tickets can be purchased at the Kazan National Cultural Centre.  

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