“It’s true they weren’t looking at winning just yet, as their training prior to the tour was focused on general strength and stamina preparation,” Slamet told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

“I’m not demoralized by their results so far. They were as expected.”

The two Indonesian teams taking part in the Asia Pacific Tour are the country’s top duo of Andy Ardiansyah and Koko Prasetyo Darkuncoro, and Suratna and Dian Putra Sentosa.

In the tour’s second stop, in Pattalung, Thailand, from April 9 to 11, Andy and Koko finished fifth while Suratna and Dian finished seventh.

In the previous event, in Khanom, Thailand, from April 4 to 6, Andy and Koko finished fifth, and Suratna and Dian came in sixth.

“I still believe Andy and Koko will be able to fulfill our target of winning two series in the Asia Pacific Tour, while Suratna and Dian will reach the semifinals,” Slamet said.

In last year’s Asia Pacific Tour, Andy and Koko won the Khanom event before going on to third and fourth places at the Samila and Bangka competitions.

“The draws haven’t been in our favor, as we’ve had to face tough opponents from New Zealand and Kazakhstan before the semifinals,” Koko said Sunday, referring to New Zealand’s Samuel John O’Dea and Ben Martin O’Dea, and the Kazakh team of Alexey Sidorenko and Alexandre Dyachenko.

Andy and Koko lost to the team from Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals.

“Our guys are about as good as the Kazakhs and the New Zealanders,” Slamet said.

“So these series are the best place to fine-tune our game while observing the opponents’ strengths and weaknesses.”

He added that after the fourth event on the Asia Pacific Tour, the teams would leave for Norway, Finland and the Netherland for the World Championships Tour in August, to gain more match practice prior to the quadrennial Asian Games, where Andy and Koko are gold-medal favorites.

At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, the pair lost out to compatriots Agus Salim and Supriyadi, who went on to get bronze.

“We hope to gather enough insight and match practice over the next six months to set up a prime performance at the Asian Games in November,” Slamet said.

The third of the Asia Pacific Tour events is the Federbraur Tournament, running from April 14 to 16, followed by the Batam leg from April 21 to 24.

The series finale will be held in Bangka-Belitung from Sept. 19 to 23.

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