The king of cadets Rey Eduardo Recio heads the Cuban selection that arrived in Guadalajara, Mexico on Thursday with his eye on first place at the 1st AIBA Youth World Championships Guadalajara 2008.

Recio, winner of the  75kg class at the Pan American under-17 Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina last month, is joined by fellow champions Lázaro Álvarez (54) and Frank Isla (64) who all have hopes of leading Cuba to the top of the team rankings at the eight-day tournament which starts on Saturday. 

"The objective is to finish in first place on the medal tally", explained Horta, who was in charge when Cuba claimed five gold at the 2006 Junior World Championships in Morocco. "That was a very important tournament for us because we only had six athletes in attendance. These boys are very motivated and have the quality to obtain a similar result." 

Horta went on to say that Russia, India, Uzbekistan and the Ukraine are likely to be Cuba's toughest competitors, although other European exponents and Asia will also be in the mix. 

The Cuban lineup also includes Pan American under-17 Championships bronze medalists Playa Girón Yorley Vallejo (57), José Larduet (81) and Erislandy Savón (91), and a couple of youthful local champions Yunier Robles (51) and Omar Ibáñez (+91). Completing the squad is Edwin Jesús Marks (48), Joel Martínez (69), and Juan Alberto García (60).

Follow every minute of the AIBA Youth World Championships Guadalajara 2008 here on www.aiba.org from October 25 until November 1.