A senior official at Indonesia's sport organization agency said on Thursday that the country will send almost 300 athletes to compete in 23 sports contended at the upcoming 2010 Asian Games (Asiad) slated to be held in Guangzhou, China, from Nov. 12 to 27.
Djoko Pramono, Head of Sport Development Commission at the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KONI) said that athletes appointed to join the Indonesian team are now conducting intensive training programs at the national training camps.
"We have selected 297 athletes considered fit to contend in Guangzhou Asiad. They will vie in 23 sports in the Asiad," Djoko told Xinhua in his office.
He said that the atheltes' preparation program to vie in Guangzhou Asiad has been conducted in the last 6 months with potential sports that Indonesia could gain medals among others from Weightlifting, Karate, Wushu, Fencing, Billiard, Dragon boat and Badminton.
Indonesia is yet to set medal targets in the Guangzhou Asiad, saying that most countries vying in Asiad now have considerably equal sport supremacy.
"In Asiad, we always compare the performance of our athletes with athletes from China, Japan, South Korea, Middle East countries and former Russian states. For regional sports, Thailand has been our performance benchmark," Djoko said.
He expected that Indonesian athletes could gain remarkable achievements in Guangzhou Asiad, more than the medals achieved in the previous Asiad.
Indonesia gained two gold medals from badminton and bowling sports in 2006 Doha, Qatar, Asian Games.
