Powered by 499 athletes, the red-and-white team brought home a total of 69 gold medals, 91 silvers and 81 bronzes to return as top-three finishers in the regional multisport showdown, after trailing in the top-five over the past four Games.

Meanwhile, the host country (951 athletes) collected 205 golds, 125 silvers and 116 bronzes to finish first, followed by Thailand (808) at a distant second with 92 golds, 103 silvers and 136 bronzes.

One of the surprises came from the men’s basketball team, stealing the gold with a defeat of Southeast Asian giant Philippines 85-81 in the final. It was the first-ever basketball gold for Indonesia since the country joined the Games in 1977, while Philippines failed to win the record title for the 19^th time.

In an apparently fruitful strategy, Indonesia heavily relied on naturalized players to improve its basketball team’s performance -- one of them being US-born Brandon Jawato, who led the team to the historic victory.

In badminton, not only did Indonesia manage an all-Indonesian final in men’s doubles, with Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin bringing home the golds, but new pair Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti also stealing the limelight with their unexpected win.

World No. 23 Leo and Daniel are both 20 years old, and they are among the successful young players set to continue Indonesia’s supremacy in the sport. Meanwhile, in their SEA Games debut, Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Apriyani guided her juniors to the highest level -- a significant milestone in developing the women’s doubles sector.

Other surprises took place in swimming as Masniari Wolf, 16, and Flairene Candrea, 17, ended Indonesia’s 11-year drought of gold in the SEA Games swimming pool, in women’s 50-meter backstroke and 100-m backstroke, respectively.

Prepped during the COVID-19 pandemic amid limitations, the Indonesian team was down to half the size of the team that competed in the 2019 Games in the Philippines. About 60 percent of the Hanoi team members were young athletes.

For Youth and Sports Minister Zainuddin Amali, the smaller team -- emphasizing the young -- was part of the country’s sports-development strategy to achieve more at the Olympic level. “We’re shifting [into a new] paradigm; our main target is the Olympics. SEA Games and Asian Games are the subgoals,” he said.

And as the Indonesian squad met the set target of finishing in the top-three in Hanoi, the minister is optimistic about the country’s sports bright future, which relies on younger generations.

“I’m confident that we will place in the world’s top-five [at the 2044 Olympics] so long as we’re consistent with the new paradigm,” said Amali.

Indeed, clear strategy and consistency in grooming young athletes is what Indonesia has been lacking in sports development.

Should all decision-makers -- from coaches to advisers and sports minister -- truly implement the sports-development roadmap by mostly banking on younger athletes in SEA Games, then we can discuss further having our elite athletes shine at the Olympics.