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The national women's basketball team head coach Tom Maher believes introducing boxing training will help players get quicker and stronger.

"It is a new training method. It improves the agility and the strength," said Maher, who introduced boxing when the team started training camp in Beijing early this month.

Team manager Bai Xilin also hailed the move.

"Chinese players lack the fighting spirit on the court. We need to fight for every ball and should not be afraid of physical clashes," Bai said. "We ask them to punch and fight during the boxing training and make them learn not to step back and quit. The players are also interested in the new training, and it becomes easier for them to be motivated."

Though there are world championships and Asian Games this year, Bai said their eyes are set on the 2008 Beijing Olympics and other matches are treated as important chances to test their training.

"This assembled training looks like we are preparing for the Worlds and Asian Games. Actually we have our sights set on the Beijing Games."

Maher also does not hide his eagerness to guide the team into the world's elite club in a bid to have a greater chance to win a medal on home soil.

The national team posted a disappointing 9th place at the Athens Games.

He said that while the Olympics is special for a country, having the Olympics at home is cherished even more.

"So people have expectations on us. We should have such pressure," said the man from Australia.

"Everybody in the team needs improvement if we want to challenge the world's top teams. We should get stronger."

The 53-year-old head coach, who took over the job last year and spent three months to lead the team into the top podium of the Asia Championship, is concerned that with the United States cementing the top position at the rankings, other countries are making remarkable progress in terms of strength and speed.

"Other countries like Russia and the Czech Republic are getting stronger and quicker on the court. Our team lacks quickness. Even if our players are skilful, we are not able to use the skill on the international court if we are not strong and quick enough."

Maher, with experiences of leading a use-to-be-minnows Australian national women's team to third place in the 1996 Atlanta Games, and to a silver medal win in the 2000 Sydney Games, also singled out defence as a key factor if the team is to challenge the world's best.

"They still need to learn how to stay in position to get the rebound. The defence is the No 1 thing."

Though with difficulties and pressure, Maher tries to keep upbeat.

"China is a big basketball country with a good sporting atmosphere," said Maher.

"The players are good and competitive. The WCBA (China's premier women's basketball league) is a very good league. And there are tight and good matches to watch."

He added that Chinese players have improved a lot in the league.

"We also have a number of good young players," said Maher.

Some new faces showed up for the first time in the national team like Shao Tingting from Bayi club and Zhang Wei from Liaoning, the key player behind the nation's youth team's third place finish in last year's World Youth Championships. There's also the 2.06m teenager Wei Wei from Guangdong.

"They are all talented players. What they lack is the experience," said manager Bai.

(China Daily March 29, 2006)