Racket Boys


Racket Boys is a 2021 South Korean television drama. The series, directed by Cho Young-kwang and written by Jung Bo-hun, stars Kim Sang-kyung, Oh Na-ra, Tang Jun-sang, Son Sang-yeon, Choi Hyun-wook, Kim Kang-hoon, Lee Jae-in, Lee Ji-won, and Kim Min-gi. The series follows the growth of sixteen-year-old boys and girls, and the challenges faced by the badminton club at their school. It premiered on SBS TV on May 31, 2021 and aired every Monday and Tuesday at 22:00. The series is available worldwide on Netflix for streaming.

Synopsis

A city kid is brought to the countryside by his father's new coaching gig — reviving a ragtag middle school badminton team on the brink of extinction. A story of a boys' badminton team at a middle school in Haenam as they grow, both as people and as players.
Yoon Hyun Jong was once a very good badminton player, but now he struggles to make ends meet for his family. Therefore, he jumps at a chance to coach a middle school team, only to find it on the verge of disbandment with only three players: Bang Yoon Dam, Na Woo Chan, and Lee Yong Tae. The three boys struggle along, improving as Yoon Hae Kang, Yoon Hyun Jong's son, joins the team along with Jung In Sol. Now having enough players to enter competitions, they try to soar to new heights.
Meanwhile, Ra Young Ja, former top badminton player and Yoon Hyun Jong's wife, is the coach of the girls' badminton team at a girl's middle school in Haenam. On her team are Han Se Yoon, the #1 ranked junior female player in Korea and Lee Han Sol, Se Yoon's best friend, allowing them to be one of the best teams among their peers.

Cast

Main

  • Kim Sang-kyung as Yoon Hyun Jong: Father of Hae-kang, and a badminton coach who moves to the countryside to earn more money.
  • Oh Na-ra as Ra Yeong-ja: Mother of Yoon Hae-kang and Yoon Hae-in, a living legend in the badminton world, and a junior high school coach. She is also known as "Ranos" for her go-by-the-book attitude.
  • Tang Jun-sang as Yoon Hae-kang: An ex-badminton prodigy and baseball enthusiast, who starts playing badminton again after moving to the countryside.
  • Son Sang-yeon as Bang Yoon-dam: The captain of the badminton club and their ace player. He wants to have 100,000 followers on Instagram. He is quite handsome.
  • Choi Hyun-wook as Na Woo-chan: A mediator who mediates conflicts between congregations with a caring personality and excellent empathy.
  • Kim Kang-hoon as Lee Yong-tae: The youngest member of the badminton club, and a big fan of badminton player Lee Yong-dae.
  • Lee Jae-in as Han Se-yoon: A badminton player who dreams of becoming the youngest member of the national team.
  • Lee Ji-won as Lee Han-sol: A student and a talented badminton player. She has a crush on Bang Yoon-Dam.
  • Kim Min-gi as Jeong In-sol: Classmate of Hae-kang, Yoon-dam and Woo-chan. He is the class president and gets excellent grades, but yearns to play badminton with his new friends.

    Supporting

  • Ahn Se-bin as Yoon Hae-in: Yoon Hae-kang's little sister, who is cute and feisty like her mother. She is also independent and outgoing, and, in addition, has asthma
  • Jung Min-seong as Kim Tae-ho: Husband of a city couple, timid and caring.
  • Park Hyo-joo as Shin Phil-ja: Wife of a city couple. Kim Tae-ho and Shin Phil-ja are a typical urban couple who have been married for 10 years. They move to Haenam so they could leave the busy city life.
  • Shin Jung-geun as Coach Bae: A PET at Haenam Seo Middle School, and a badminton coach also known as "White Wolf".
  • Woo Hyun as Hong Yi-jang: The head of the village and the youth president.
  • Baek Ji-won as Shin Song-hee: A lady who claims to be a guardian of the territorial village.
  • Shin Cheol-jin as Grandfather
  • Cha Mi-kyung as Grandma Oh-mae
  • Kim Ki-cheon as principal of Haenam Seo Middle School
  • Song Seung-hwan as Lee Seung-heon: A player in the National Spring Badminton League.
  • Ahn Sang-woo as Mr. No: A badminton store owner.
  • Ahn Nae-sang as Fang: A national team coach.
  • Yoon Hyun-soo as Park Chan: A badminton player that has a crush on Se-yoon.
  • Hong Seo-joon as Chairman Jung: In-sol's father.
  • Song Seung-hwan as Lee Seung-heon: A middle school badminton player.

    Special appearances

  • Kim Min-seok as Hun-hoon
  • Park Ho-san as Park Sun-bae
  • Jonathan Thona as Jonathan
  • Jo Jae-ryong as a restaurant owner
  • Park Ok-hool as Bang Yoon-dam's mother
  • Kim Tae-hyang as Bang Yong-shik
  • Choi Dae-hoon as a reporter for a badminton magazine
  • Yoon Bong-gil as a baseball coach
  • Im Chul-hyung as Woo-chan's father
  • Jo Ryeon as Woo-chan's mother
  • Kim Sung-cheol as General Secretary Park
  • Ko Soo-bin as Ivana Putri
  • Park Hae-soo as Lee Jae-joon
  • Lee Jun-hyeok as Banjang Yu
  • Kwon Dong-ho as college coach for Hyeon-jong and Jae-joon
  • Ki Eun-se as Lee Yu-ri
  • Jo Deok-hoe as a disciple of director Bae
  • Jo Jae-yoon as a comic performer in 'The End of the Earth Avengers'
  • Seo Do-jin as a comic performer in 'The End of the Earth Avengers'
  • Lee Si-eon as a Busan citizen
  • Heo Sung-tae as Coach Cheon
  • Jung Hee-tae as Hong Jeong-hyeon
  • Lee Yong-dae as himself
  • Kang Seung-yoon as Kang Tae-seon
  • Kim Jung-young as Seon-yeong
  • Lee Seok-hyung as Lee Kyung-min
  • Seo Dong-won as Dong-hwi
  • Kwon Yu-ri as Im Seo-hyun
  • Lee Kyu-hyung as Park Jung-hwan
  • Kim Seul-gi as Jang PD
  • Jo Jung-shik as an SBC news anchor
  • Kim Ji-young as Ah-young

    Production

Casting

Tang Jun-sang was invited to star in the sports drama on November 30, 2020. The cast of the series, Tang Jun-sang, Kim Kang-hoon, Oh Na-ra and Kim Sang-kyung, was confirmed on January 26, 2021. Lee Jae-in joined the cast on February 25, 2021, while Park Hyo-joo joined in March 2021. On March 25, the production company Pan Entertainment announced that with six boys and girls; Jun-sang Tang, Sang-yeon Sang, Choi Hyun-wook, Kang-hoon Kim, Jae-in Lee, and Ji-won Lee, the lineup of players was completed. Kim Sang-kyung and Baek Ji-won appeared together in the 2019 office themed drama, Miss Lee.

Preparation

Tang Jun-sang mentioned in an interview that all the cast members who play badminton all trained extensively for months prior to filming in order to get the right forms and techniques. Kang Seung-yoon also admitted in a behind-the-scenes video uploaded on the SBS Catch Youtube channel that he also took badminton lessons as he plays a top player in the drama. However, there was never a scene where he was seen playing the sport.

Filming

Principal photography began on January 30, 2021. On April 21, 2021 SBS released images of script reading. The filming locations of the series are Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Miryang and South Gyeongsang Province.

Episodes

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Reception

Kim Hee-kyung writing for Hankyung opined that the drama is fresh in respect that it is 'bringing liveliness and tension at the same time'. Praising the directing technique, Hee-kyung wrote, "He uses his cartoon imagination to draw white wolves and bears with computer graphics." She felt that the game scenes were portrayed realistically, and to stress on the players and present a dramatic atmosphere, voices and lights were removed.

Controversy

Episode 5 drew outrage from Indonesian netizens due to its negative portrayal of the country and its people as being cheaters and lacking in sportsmanship. Some of the dialogue between the main characters about the country and the wide gap in score between Han Se-yoon from Korea and Ivana Putri from Indonesia were also considered insulting given that, at the time of broadcast, a number of Indonesian badminton players were leading in world rankings while South Korean players were several places behind, leading to many accusing SBS of racism. In response to the backlash, SBS released an apology on their official Instagram account over the way the country had been portrayed.

Viewership

Awards and nominations