'The Wonder Coach' director Kim Yeon-kyung faced a come-from-behind loss to Japan's Shujitsu High School volleyball team and then matched up against Gwangju Women's University, the university league champion.
On the 26th, the MBC Sunday entertainment show The Wonder Coach continued last week's focus on Shujitsu High School. With the Wonder Dox having taken both the first and second sets, they only needed to win one more set, but it was not easy. Pyo Seung-joo shouted, "Hold on! Hold on! You only need one!" but the point gap widened and Kim Yeon-kyung had no choice but to take out the strongest attacker, Inkushi. Moreover, a service error handed the third set completely to the Japanese team.
In the fourth set, Kim Yeon-kyung tried to get the players moving by teaching cross and straight attacks, but with failed blocks and accumulating minor mistakes, they lost a close match by two points.
By the fifth set the Wonder Dox players were all exhausted. Because Shujitsu's players are high school students, their stamina was not at all depleted. The announcer said, "The Wonder Dox look tired overall. It's something we worried about when facing high school players," and that became reality. The players said, "If we lose this time we'll be disbanded; we were so desperate," but they ultimately surrendered the match in the fifth set and suffered a come-from-behind loss.
After telling the players to calmly reflect on the match, Kim Yeon-kyung could not contain his exhausted and devastated mixed emotions. He said, "Should I say we should be ashamed? That situation. Being up 2-0 against high school students and losing 3-2 in a come-from-behind loss was both embarrassing and shameful. As a coach."
The next opponent, Gwangju Women's University, the university league champion, was led by coach Choi Seung-woo. Born in 1992 and a young coach, he confidently said, "The players' average age is 20.2. We train an average of eight hours a day. We train until 10 p.m."
Kim Yeon-kyung identified low attacking power as the reason for the loss in the Korea-Japan match. For that to change, Inkushi had to develop. But Inkushi was silent and bowed his head. Inkushi said, "I didn't have confidence to score right away," and Kim Yeon-kyung, barely containing his anger, said, "That's just an excuse. Don't make excuses in this situation."
Inkushi also had grievances. He came to Korea in his first year of high school to play volleyball but, because of his nationality, he could not go pro. So much so that Kim Yeon-kyung lamented his talent, saying, "Shouldn't we naturalize him quickly?" Kim Yeon-kyung approached Inkushi, who was quietly responding through training. He said, "Don't compromise. Don't make excuses. Find a solution. If you had done this, this would have happened; change your mindset. Are you going to stay here? You need to go to a bigger place. Think bigger," offering the heartfelt advice he could give as a player who grew and advanced abroad, and he again showed faith in him by including Inkushi on Gwangju Women's University's match roster.
[Photo] MBC Sunday entertainment The Wonder Coach
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