Host Indonesia targets eighth place at 2018 Asian Games

JAKARTA ( Reuters) - Indonesia is targeting an eighth-place finish and 15 gold medals at the Asian Games it hosts next year, a senior minister of the Southeast Asian country has said.

Achieving the medal target would eclipse Indonesia's best-ever haul of 11 golds at the 1962 Games in Jakarta, when the country finished second overall.

"We target an eighth or 10th place in the 2018 Asian Games," coordinating minister for human development and culture Puan Maharani was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

"We should gain 15 gold medals to achieve the target."

Indonesia has finished outside the top 10 in the last six editions of the Games, stretching back to Hiroshima in 1994.

It has never reached double digits for gold medals since 1962.

The country's youth and sports minister Imam Nahrawi said Indonesia would field athletes in 44 disciplines at the Games to be held from Aug. 18 to Sep. 2 in Jakarta and Palembang.

The 2018 edition will be preceded by a test event from October to November to determine the preparedness of the Indonesia's infrastructure and athletes.

(Writing by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)