The Philippine Triathlon team to the Doha Asian Games has set a modest goal, to at least crack the elite 8 of the event, local media reported on Wednesday.

The triathletes said that their experience in Doha early this year gave them confidence as they will be familiar with the flat course for the bike and run events of the three-in-one race, according to a report by The Manila Bulletin daily.

"We are somehow familiar with the flat course, giving us a bit of advantage," the report quoted male bet Quilala as saying.

With exactly nine days left before the event, Quilala is optimistic that they can fight for the final slots following a successful training in Perth, Australia where they trained for seven weeks under Australian coach Rob Piccard.

The similarity of the track course in Australia and Doha will be another bonus.

"Our training there did us a lot of good because the track course in Australia is also flat like the course in Doha," disclosed female bet Lea Colleen Langit.

"It was probably one of the best trainings that we ever had knowing that the top male and female triathletes come from Australia," said Langit.

Langit added the team's performance in Doha will serve as their gauge for the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, as well as their 2008 Beijing Olympics bid.