When badminton made its debut as an Olympic medal event in Barcelona in 1992, the world met a winsome pair of Indonesian athletes who were driven by a force even stronger than an all-consuming will to win. Allan Budi Kusuma and Susi Susanti, who won gold medals in the men's and women's singles events, had another consuming passion: each other. They were truly, madly and publicly in love. As players, they were also truly terrific: tough training under the supervision of Indonesian army generals had brought together two shy teenagers who showed the world how to play a superfast sport that Asians have dominated for three decades. In tournaments over the past four years, the doting duo have amassed 44 world and regional titles. Budi Kusuma, 28, and Susanti, 25--who are now engaged--could easily win themselves some gold wedding presents in Atlanta.

Whether or not the sweethearts triumph, Indonesia's doubles players probably will. The country's men's doubles team overshadows even its rivals from China, though the Chinese finally seized the world's No. 1 singles ranking at the Thomas Cup men's tournament in Hong Kong in May. Indonesian players Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, who will lead the country's three men's doubles pairs at Atlanta, won the coveted Japan Open, Korea Open and All England world titles this year, and are now ranked No. 1 worldwide.

The champion players typify Indonesia's obsession with a sport that is little known in its competitive form in the U.S. but that fills Asian stadiums with fans who watch players smash a 16-feathered shuttlecock at speeds of as much as 320 km/h. A sport that depends not on strength but on lightning reflexes, agility and stamina, badminton has been an overwhelming Asian favorite since China, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea began to dominate the sport in the 1960s. The Indonesians have proved the most ferocious in defending the world's top half a dozen titles every year.

Indonesia has grown accustomed to being No. 1, and the army generals who run the Indonesian Badminton Association intend to keep it that way. Two years after the Barcelona victories, they ordered construction of a new national training center for the sport an hour's drive from the traffic jams, pollution and distractions of Jakarta, at a reported cost of $500,000. About 80 athletes live in the center's dormitory year-round, training five hours a day, six days a week, on 21 indoor courts in a cavernous hall. To relax on weeknights, the players watch videotapes of past tournaments.

The players don't earn the privilege of this intense life easily. Selected from more than 30 training centers nationwide, they are sponsored by local badminton clubs in all 27 provinces and half a dozen major cities in this nation of more than 200 million people. Talent and dedication are the only requirements: the clubs even recruit from Indonesia's 3% ethnic Chinese minority, although that group is excluded from the military and the civil service by discriminatory regulations. "Sometimes you need a short body for agility," explains Indra Gunawan, an ethnic Chinese badminton star whose team first brought home the coveted Thomas Cup--badminton's foremost prize--in the late 1960s. At 49, Gunawan coaches Budi Kusuma, who is also ethnic Chinese, as are his fiance Susanti and most of the 18 other Olympic-team players.

President Suharto micromanages this national prestige machine. Just this past July 5, two days before leaving for Germany to be treated for a heart condition, he invited the Olympic team to the presidential palace, as he does before every tournament. Reports Budi Kusuma: "[President Suharto] says, 'You must try your best, you must fight'--like, fight like an army to the death."

Despite that kind of support, Indonesia plays in a rough neighborhood, which is getting rougher as huge China flexes its own badminton muscles. "The Chinese players are improving fast. They are younger and very dangerous," says A.M. Dwiatmanta, a sportswriter for the daily Jakarta Post. Dong Jiong of China won the world No. 1 men's singles title at the last Thomas Cup and held his position in the International Badminton Federation's July 9 ranking. Indonesian men's singles players Joko Suprianto and Budi Kusuma now rank No. 2 and No. 4, respectively. At the Uber Cup, the women's team version of the Thomas Cup, Susanti narrowly won the women's singles title by beating Ye Zhaoying of China in two out of three matches--only to slip down to No. 3 in the international ranking. Despite the toughening competition, the Suharto government is so confident that it has already issued orders to Jakarta's traffic police--a branch of the armed forces--to lead the Indonesian team in a siren-screaming cavalcade through crowds of cheering fans when the players return from the Olympics in August. Even if there are no new boy-girl love matches on the courts, the lovefest between a country and the sport of badminton is sure to keep going strong.