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ice President Boediono is confident that host Indonesia will be able to perform its best and reach the overall champions target in the 26th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), which will begin two weeks from now.

“I am very certain that with the excellent preparation that our athletes have been through, they will achieve their best. As hosts we have to prove that we will be the overall champions,” Boediono said during his visit to Tennis Indoor Senayan, the venue for wushu and karate, at the Bung Karno sports complex in Central Jakarta on Monday.

During the Tennis Indoor visit, Boediono greeted karate, tae kwon do, Vietnamese traditional martial art vovinam and field and track athletes among others.

Earlier in the day, Boediono had visited and greeted athletes at the cycling venue in Velodrome Rawamangun in East Jakarta and the basketball venue at Britama Arena sports hall in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, before his stop at the Bung Karno sports complex, where he also took two shots on the archery range.

Boediono requested all athletes to maintain their fitness in order to reach their peak performance during the Games, which will be held in Jakarta and Palembang in South Sumatra.

“If possible, please avoid injuries and prepare your fighting morale, because it is an important aspect of competition,” he added.

Indonesian Karate-Do Association (Forki) chief Hendardji Supandji said that his teams were ready to snatch seven gold medals as expected.

“We’ve already been training for two years. In the recent World Championships in Turkey, we were world No. 3. We are ready,” Hendardji said on the sidelines of Boediono’s visit to Tennis Indoor.

As part of preparations for the competition, Hendardji said that he had ordered his staff to set up mattresses and other equipment for training sessions and upcoming matches in the Senayan venue.

“We will have those mattresses and the equipment ready this week,” he added.

In cycling, Indonesian Cycling Association (ISSI) chief Phanny Tanjung said that he would not predict the exact number of gold medals to go for as it was part of his strategy to keep athletes’ morale stable ahead of the Games.

“Many expect that we can win half of all the 24 events in the Games, but I know that if we claim that number it will be burden on my athletes. So, we will just do our best,” Phanny told The Jakarta Post, commenting on Boediono’s hope that cycling could contribute 12 golds.

Separately, Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) chief Anggito Abimanyu said that the men’s team aimed for gold, while the women targeted bronze.

Realistically, Perbasi secretary-general Agus Mauro said the Indonesian team eyed second place, or silver, in the Games amid strong contention from the Philippines team.

“We have collected two silver medals in the last two Games, so now Indonesia is right behind the Philippines,” he added as quoted by Antara.