Thailand beats Korea in kick volleyball (Sepak Takraw,) a breakdown
What Happened
For a Fun Sport Friday entry in October 2019, Jomboy stepped away from baseball to break down sepak takraw, the Southeast Asian sport sometimes called kick volleyball. The clip covers the second game of a best-of-three between Thailand and Korea, with Thailand having taken game one and leading game two. The rules are simple but brutal: three touches per side, no hands or arms allowed, and you have to clear the net on the third touch. Thailand closed it out 21-14, finishing with the sort of airborne bicycle-kick spikes that make the whole thing look impossible.
Why This Matters
This one matters because of what it isn't: a baseball breakdown. By late 2019 Jomboy's format had become elastic enough that he could point his frame-by-frame eye at literally any sport and people would watch. Sepak takraw rewards that treatment perfectly. Every point ends with a player upside down in the air, and slowing it down only makes it more absurd. The mechanic worth understanding is the overhead kick on the spike, where a defender who just leapt for a block lands, his teammate digs the ball up, and he launches again to finish over the net. Jomboy's running point about baseball players pulling muscles while these athletes treat the floor like a trampoline lands because it's true. These were the same players who'd reportedly won eight in a row, so the skill on display wasn't a fluke.
At 2.0M views this sits at #105 of 1,583 Jomboy breakdowns, top 6.6% of the whole catalog, which is wild for a video with zero baseball in it.
Key Moments
Who / What Is Involved
Teams: Orioles.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentfun sport Friday and we're going to kick
volleyball also known as the puck DeGraw
probably didn't say that right so ones
brought to you by the sports letter
looking at that ball that ball if I saw
this ball at the grocery store I would
buy it immediately and have no idea what
to do with it so it's a kick volleyball
you get three touches you have to get it
over on the third touch and they try to
block it and you can't use your hands or
your arms and it's just like incredibly
hard and I don't understand how it's
possible look at that [ __ ] this was just
a random point to show you how it's
played now we are in game to its best of
three first to 21 Thailand won the first
game they're up 18 to 12 but they just
[ __ ] up now it's 1813 ok immediate
[ __ ] up from Korea now it's 19 to 13 two
points away and Thailand wins and going
for the kill and they get the point
there check this out look how crazy this
sport is so so Thailand and yellows
going for the block and he gets it no ok
he missed the block his guy behind him
puts it up now the same guy goes for the
spike he was just up in the air for the
block and it goes over the net and it
wins Wow now it's game point and here he
wants to finish it with authority but he
over kicks it he's smiling a little bit
because he knows he got a little
overzealous look at the screen grab of
how high this dude is this makes no
sense how he didn't break his neck he
just falls they just know how to fall
properly I guess anyway 22:14 here's
game point Korea serves it Thailand sets
it up for the big spike they block it
but they don't Thailand wins they beat
Korea 21 to 14 in foot volleyball or
kick volleyball or say paektu gras and
yeah man this is crazy
this is one of those sports where you
look at it like I can't even attempt
this everything about me will break they
do this regularly baseball players pull
muscles all the time and these dudes are
just non-stop acting like they live on a
trampoline it makes no sense I guess
they won eight times in a row and he's
very excited about it
did I say this one was brought to you by
the sports letter if I did it is go to
the sports letter dot-com and you'll
find out about all the latest headlines
and maybe maybe kick volleyball we'll be
in there next time we can only pray