Archers Nurfitriyana and Lilies Handayani, silver medalists in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, lead the veteran members of the team who account for 20 percent of the approximately 500 athletes the National Sports Council of Indonesia will be sending in the biennial meet set Nov. 27-Dec. 5.

Indonesian chef de mission and national council chief Djoko Pramono said lack of young and promising talent left them with no choice but to send Indonesia’s tried and tested athletes for battle in the biggest sporting event in the region.

"Some sports organizations do not have young, good athletes. So we have to turn to the older ones to represent our country," said Djoko during a brief stay in the country.

The soft-spoken Indonesian sports czar led a small Indon contingent in the four-day Chef de Mission coordinating meeting in Manila recently.

"They are still good. Considering their performances in the recent Women Muslim Games in Iran, there’s no doubt they are the country’s brightest hope in this year’s SEAG," said Djoko.

He added that the veteran athletes are vying for gold medals in a number of sports, including swimming, billiards, volleyball and tennis.

Just like his counterparts Thana Chairprasit of Thailand, Malaysian Low Beng Choo and Vietnamese Nguyen Hong Minh, Djoko said the Philippines, being the host country, has a very good chance of winning the overall championship.

He was quick to add Indonesia has a strong chance of finishing runner up despite sending a team lacking in young athletes.

"I’m optimistic Indonesia will be able to finish second in the overall medal standings," said Djoko.

Indonesia is seeing action in 26 of the 41 sports events featured in the Games.

So far, Indonesia has 656 athletes currently training for the SEA Games. After the evaluation and assessment on the performances of the athletes whose bulk are now training abroad, the number will be cut to about 500 in time for the submission of entries by name at the end of the month.

Djoko said signs that some sports organizations failed to tap and train younger athletes to replace the veterans were imminent as far back as the 2000 National Games in Surabaya.

"The sad thing is that we have so many talented athletes, but we don’t know how to get the best out of them," he said.

"So these athletes will only remain talents, never champions."

Indonesia used to be a dominant force in the region, but has been a letdown in the past three editions of the meet.