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o help the country regain its regional sports supremacy, the new sports minister should begin prioritizing athletics and swimming at international competitions, a sports figure said Friday.

The two sports, along with shooting, traditionally offer dozens of gold medals at multi-event sporting showcases such as the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

"If we could just dominate those two sports, it would be much easier for the country to realize its target of regaining the overall championship in the region," former badminton star Christian Hadinata told The Jakarta Post.

The upcoming SEA Games in Laos will feature 30 gold medals in track and field, and 32 in swimming. The pool will also offer up another 10 gold medals - eight from diving and synchronized diving, and two from water polo.

The track and field team was among those that contributed the most gold at the last SEA Games in Thailand two years ago, with seven gold medals.

The badminton squad also put up seven gold, while the swimmers returned home empty-handed.

After a string of poor results since 1999, Indonesia is aiming to regain supremacy when it hosts the biennial multi-event sporting showcase in 2011.

Hopes are high that Indonesia will rule the roost now that the sports ministry has a new patron in Andi Mallarangeng.

However, the country will have to prove its championship credentials in Laos first.

Badminton will again be one of the sports Indonesia will rely on for its medal haul.

The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) will send 18 shuttlers as part of the contingents 345 athletes from 22 sports. "We wish to emerge the overall champion in the badminton category," Christian, who heads the teaining center, said.

"That means snatching 50 to 60 percent of the gold medals on offer, which, I must say, is not an easy task at all as Malaysia and Thailand also have strong shuttlers."

The country's badminton squad has experienced a title drought due clubs around the country being inactive.

"The clubs are the main source of talented shuttlers," Christian said.

"Unfortunately, the spread of badminton clubs is still confined to Java, while most of the training centers elsewhere are dormant."

National swimming coach Hartadi Nurtjojo also called for more attention to local clubs.

He said all 18 swimmers for the Laos trip came from such clubs, which had begun expanding outside Java after the National Games (PON) in East Kalimantan last year.

"We need government support to facilitate swimming in the school curriculum," Hartadi said.

Runner Suryo Agung Wibowo expressed hope the new minister would also continue athletes' welfare programs - 100 house grants, 1,000 civil servants recruited, and pension funds - initiated by former minister Adhyaksa Dault.

For sport enthusiast Yoga Andika Satria, the national scene is dominated by the rift between the ministry and the National Sports Council (KONI) over the ministry-initiated Top-tier Athletic Program (PAL).