Indonesia’s quest to win the overall crown in the 2011 Southeast Asian Games is now in jeopardy after it was learned that the government wants to reduce thenumber of events from a high of 577 to less than 500.

The State Ministry for Youth and Sports Affairs has instructed the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) to cut the number of events owing to financial constraints, The Jakarta Globe reported in its January 14 issue.

The 2011 SEAG is set November 11 to 25 in Palembang and Jakarta and the SEAG Organizing Committee has been told to take out non-traditional sports so the number of events could be lowered to a manageable level.

But Abdul Rauf, secretary of the organizing committee said it is in the non-traditional sports that Indonesian athletes are going to strike big in line with its bid to run away with the most gold medals, a feat they pulled off in the 1997 Jakarta Games.

Rauf told the paper that Indonesia has strong chances in winning in sports like bridge, kempo, paragliding, roller-skating and wall-climbing.

“Of the 577 events proposed last week, 90 have the potential to win gold medals for our country, and they come from non- Olympic sports,” Rauf said.

“If the ministry insists on reducing the number of events, I’m afraid it would harm our objective of winning the overall title.”

The SEAG Federation Council is meeting next month in the resort city of Bali, an event that will be graced by Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose ‘Peping’ Cojuangco, who expects heavy lobbying for these sports.

Last Thursday, the organizing committee was able to prune it down to 562 events.

The record for most events at one SEA Games is 490, which was set when Jakarta hosted the Games in 1997.

The Philippines wound up fifth in the 2009 SEAG held in Laos and Cojuangco is upbeat that with proper training the Filipinos will be a force to reckon with for the top spot.

POC spokesperson Joey Romasanta expects a large delegation to the 2011 SEAG.