BUENOS AIRES, May 16 -- Argentina's basketball player Luis Scola on Monday confirmed that he will travel to China later this week while expressing hope he will be fully recovered from a knee injury before the pre-Olympics Mar del Plata tournament in August, local press reported.

Scola, who plays in the NBA Houston Rockets and won gold in the Athens Olympics 2004, said he is hopeful that he will be fit to play in the upcoming tournament.

Scola's visit to China is part of a trip that seeks to promote the sport in several cities across China.

The Mar del Plata tournament will serve as a qualifier for the 2017 London Olympics and a number of the current players from the period that in international basketball has become known as "the golden generation" are expected to retire from the game.

"These trips have always been highly productive and culturally. It's all a great experience. It's amazing to see how Yao Ming through the NBA has stirred so much interest for Basketball in China," he told the daily paper Clarin in an interview, referring to China's NBA player in Rockets abroad.

"This year I really want to go to Hong Kong and Macao," said Scola, who is captain for the Argentine team.

Scola injured his left knee in a game for the Houston Rockets on April 15 which forced him to cut the season short.

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