At the time, Donny had been certain he had won the gold in the SEA Games but the jury said otherwise. The super-fit martial artist says he was extremely disappointed he let his country down.

A year has passed and now the 22-year-old karateka is ready to claim victory at a bigger event; the 15th Asian Games in Doha next month.

Donny has trained hard and collected some impressive titles in prestigious competitions this year.

In the KSAD (Army Chief of Staff) Cup National Championships in his hometown Medan, Donny won the gold in his specialty, the under-60 kilograms division and also in the free class, which is considered the most challenging event, The Jakarta Post newspaper reported Friday.

To win the free class, Donny had to beat some of the nation's top karatekas, including 2005 SEA Games three-time gold medalist and over-80 kg national champion Umar Syarief; national under-75 kg champion Christo Mondolu; national under-70 kg winner Ismail Azwar; and under-65 kg champion and 2004 National Games two-time gold medalist Rizky Syahbana.

This achievement meant the Indonesian Karate-do Federation took little time choosing him for the Asian Games squad.

In two "tuning-up" tournaments in October ahead of the Asiad, Donny won a gold medal at the Austria Open and a bronze at the 18th World Karate Championships in Tampere, Finland. The bronze at the championships was the first medal for Indonesia in the event.

Unsurprisingly, Donny has been judged by National Sports Council as a likely gold medal prospect, with him expected to follow in the footsteps of karatekas like Arief Taufan (-60 kg) and Hasan Basri (-65 kg), who won a gold apiece at the Asian Games in 1998 and 2002, respectively.

During a recent overseas training stint in Germany, Donny said he had improved his performance, including his aggressiveness, speed and technique.