Hae-Kang’s Choice
Episode 8 of Racket Boys begins with Woo-Chan deciding to quit. Hyeon-Jong gives him some encouraging words of wisdom though and tells him to keep going and do his best in the upcoming competition. In fact, the rest of the team rally around him and help spur him on. Back in town, the wall mural is graffitied and destroyed with “Mind your own business” plastered over the front. Following the group’s efforts last episode, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. Silently, they get to work scrubbing the graffiti off while they curse and berate the new couple from the city. They actually drive past too, flicking their cigarette out the window and spitting. A fire starts up in the woods nearby as they drive off. The residents hurry to put it out as thick plumes and clouds raise to the sky. It’s miraculous that these guys stopped this with such small buckets but there we go. Hyeon-Jong heads up to see Coach Paeng and encourages him to consider Yoon-Dam for the National competitions. He even brings in canned coffee but the whole thing goes horribly wrong. Eventually he’s forced to leave as the others in the room scoff at him. At the tournament, Hae-Kang twists his ankle, much to the delight of Seung-Heon. He decides to use this to his advantage, intent on going up against the injured boy in the final match. When the racket boys find out, they realize the team are taking advantage of them and try to come up with a plan – especially as they need to win at least two games. Yoon-Dam’s match is up next though and he’s facing up against stiff competition from Busan. For all the build-up, he wins. Yong-Tae draws while Woo-Chan prepares for his doubles match. Eventually the match starts but Woo-Chan injures his arm. On the back of this, they’re forced to withdraw. Woo-Chan’s Father, happens to have been in attendance and watched him perform though. From that, he understands the drive his son has and encourages him to head back inside and keep fighting. Well, next up is Hae-Kang’s game against Seung-Heon. However, Hae-Kang actually played up his injury on purpose to make the last game. He played the rivals at their own game and now it’s paying dividends. In fact, Hae-Kang wins his game 21-6. He absolutely destroys the guy. After the tournament, Hyeon-Jong catches up with Coach Paeng who confirms that hes goin to pick Yoon-Dam for the Juniors the following year. Still riding a high, he heads to the doctors where he learns some damning truths. Hae-Kang has badly sprained his ankle and actually he needs to take time away from the sport. In fact, he needs to hang his racket up for at least two weeks. However, the team have won the competition and now the very real question about Hae-Kang’s future is brought up. Specifically what he’s going to do while he’s resting up. This causes everyone to be on a downer as they head back to the villa. After some moping, Hae-Kang makes his decision and he’s going to stick with badminton. Why? Well, he’s made the National Team as well. As a celebration of this, Hyeon-Jong gets wi-fi installed in the house which immediately causes the kids to hurry off and play games and surf the net. However, they still go to Grandma Ome’s house as they want to hang out with Hae-Kang. Hae-Kang immediately catches a pang of jealousy when Se-Yoon learns that Park Chan likes her. As they cast a glance at one another, the episode comes to a close.
The Episode Review
Racket Boys bows out this week’s double bill with the team rallying back and managing to win the tourney 3-2. This also has the knock-on effect of allowing Hae-Kang and Yoon-Dam to be picked for the national team. The moments involving Woo-Chan and his father is a nice touch too, while the different games do well to shine a spotlight on the highs and lows of playing badminton. As a minor gripe Se-Yoon gets very little screen time – and little to do this time around but that’s more a personal preference than a deterrent to the episode. Still, there’s enough here to like and the episode bows out with an intriguing sign of things to come next week.
