Indonesia's top mixed doubles shuttler Lilyana Natsir is confident that she and her partner Nova Widianto will be able to claim a gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games in August.
"I am ready to beat any opponents during my debut in the Games, " Lilyana was quoted Monday by major newspaper The Jakarta Post as saying.
Lilyana and Nova are the current world No. 1 doubles pair.
According to Lilyana, tough competition will come from Chinese pairs, especially Zheng Bo and Gao Ling.
Gao Ling's experience of winning Olympic medals in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004 will be an advantage for the Chinese duo in reclaiming the gold in the event.
"Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms of England are also a great team and are hard to beat," the 23-year-old player said.
She said she was now preparing for several Super Series events, including the Singapore Super Series from June 10 to 15 and the Indonesia Super Series from June 17 to 22.
"After those events, I will focus on my final preparations for the Olympics," she said.
Indonesia's weightlifting team manager Syafriadi Cut Ali said four Indonesian male weightlifters had qualified for the Olympic Games.
Eko Yuli Irawan will compete in the 56-kilogram class, Triyatno in the 62-kilogram class, Edi Kurniawan in the 69-kilogram class and Sandow Waldemar Nasution in the 77-kilogram class.
Syafriadi said his team had yet to decide which female weightlifter would represent Indonesia in the Games.
"Sinta Darmariani in the 77-kilogram class, Fatmawati in the 58-kilogram class and Lisa Rumbewas in the 53-kilogram class are on our list of choices," he said, adding the team would submit the name to the Indonesian Sports Council (KONI) early next month.
He said Sydney and Athens Olympic silver medalist Lisa was the favorite because of her outstanding performances in training during the past two months.
"However, we don't want to pressure them with a gold medal target. We will be happy and proud if they can get any medal, no matter if it is silver or bronze," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2008)