•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

The nation’s performance at the Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam has won praise from national sports officials. The burden of building on the performance now falls squarely on the shoulders of the Southeast Asian Games contingent traveling to Laos next month.

The athletes collected six gold, three silver and 14 bronze medals to finish ninth in the medal standings in Vietnam, a significant jump from their 15th place finish in the tournament two years before.

Taking a cue from its athletes’ medal haul in Vietnam, the Ministry of Youth and Sports urged the team going to the Laos SEA Games next month to improve on its ranking as well.

Indonesia finished fourth overall during the Thailand SEA Games in 2007. No less than President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he wanted the national team to place third in Laos.

“I’m proud of our athletes’ efforts in Vietnam. I hope it would inspire our team in the SEA Games to improve on its ranking as well,” Youth and Sports Minister Andi Alifian Mallarangeng said during the inauguration of the Indonesia Olympic Committee (KOI) office in Jakarta on Tuesday.

KOI announced that it would be sending 346 athletes to compete in 22 sports in Laos.

“We have a lot of young athletes in our roster because it is a way of preparing our team for the 2011 SEA Games, which will be held in our country,” KOI president Rita Subowo said.

The national track and field team has the most number of new names with 12.

“We know our younger athletes have little chance of winning medals in Laos, but we’re looking at the long term,” added Budi Dharma Sidi, an official of the Indonesian Athletics Association (PASI).

“For us, it is better to give slots in the national team to junior athletes with potential than to senior athletes who are past their prime.”

PASI said it hoped to bag at least seven gold medals in Laos, the same number it won during the 2007 SEA Games.

Meanwhile, medal winners in the SEA Games will be getting another award, as the sports ministry has allocated Rp 20 billion ($2.1 billion) for prizes.

A gold medal winner will receive as much as Rp 200 million, a silver medalist Rp 50 million and bronze medalist Rp 30 million.

The Laos SEA Games will be held in the capital city of Vientiane from Dec. 9 to 18. SEA Games