If we count only the medals, China is definitely the super powerhouse in badminton. Korea is probably the 2nd. Many people may think that badminton is more popular in Korea than in Indonesia. But, China has so many categories to compete, in last Asian Games, China grabbed 199 gold medals, 5 of them are from badminton. Korea got 76 golds, 1 of them from badminton. Indonesia got 4 golds totally, and 1 of them from badminton. If I'm the sports minister to allocate the money for each sports, in China, badminton only counts 2.5% (5 out of 199) of the gold, therefore, I would allocate 2.5% money and resource to badminton. In Indonesia, since badminton counts 25% (1 out of 4) of the gold, 10 times bigger than China, I would allocate 25% money and resource to badminton. In this sense, badminton is 10 times more popular and glory in Indonesia than in China. Using this method, I classified countries into 3 groups: 1) high popular countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand. Badminton achievements at Asian Games count 5%-25% of their total sports achievements. These countries invested huge on badminton. Special attentions and resources are allocated to badminton as their preferential Olympic/Asian Games strategy. 2) average popular countries: averagely, badminton 7 golds has a 1.6% of the total 477 golds. So these countries: China, Korea, Japan, India, Taipei, Hong Kong,..., badminton takes 0.5-3 % of the total achievements. In these countries, badminton is treated equally to other sports as one part of their Olympic/Asian Games strategy. 3) low popular countries: other countries under-performed the average badminton medal percentage. Most countries in this group. Such as North Korea, Iran, Kazak, ... Badminton is ignored in these countries Olympic/Asian Games strategy.
As of today, 3 badminton gold medals found their owners: Men's team gold went to Korea, Women's team to China, Women's double to Indonesia. Anyhow their weighted values are different. China got 96 golds total, Korea 34 golds, Indonesia 1 gold. Badminton contributions are different to their overall sports achievements and glories. 1 gold in badminton accounts for 1% for China's total golds, 3% for Korea, and 100% for Indonesia.
