Indonesian badminton team would not be preoccupied by exceeded medal target. Since the first two gold medals earning in 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the team assess realistic target.
"As usual, we bring home gold medal. One gold is okay, two golds, Thanks God," manager of Indonesian badminton team for Beijing Olympics Lius Pongoh told Xinhua on Thursday.
All athletes have taken intensive training in the camp. The period of training sessions for badminton is a bit more permanent and regular. The training camp is located in suburban area of eastern part of Jakarta.
"So far, all athletes have pushed their physical condition much better. This is for improving the performance during the competition in Beijing later," he said.
Setting a target, for him as a manager is just a matter of usual business in every Olympic Games. Particularly since 1992 Barcelona Olympics, tradition of gold medal earning has been stuck.
"Anyway, we see the strength of participating countries for badminton has spread. So I guess we could never know the result of the competition, particularly men's category, until the final games," he said.
He mentioned Lin Dan of China, Lee Ching Wei of Malaysia, Park Sung Hwan of South Korea. "All of them are tough opponents for Indonesian," he added.
Badminton has been the shoulder to keep the Indonesian's position of medal tally since 1992 Barcelona Olmpics. The last 2004 Athens Olympics, Indonesian team was successful earning one gold from men's singles Taufik Hidayat, and two bronze medals from men's double category.
The return of Taufik, together with Sony Dwi Kuncoro shoulder the expectation of Indonesian badminton fans.
(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2008)