First Impressions: Rivals Don’t Know They’re In Love In Thai BL “Match Point”
New Thai BL “Match Point” is about the heated rivalry between a star tennis player and a talented art student. They’re on different paths, but their endless efforts to one-up each other eventually land them on the same tennis court, competing against each other.
Be ready to be the only one in the room who can actually read it—these two think they’re just rivals, but there’s so clearly something else going on. When rivals have this much chemistry, it usually means one thing.
Warning: spoilers from episodes 1 and 2!
The series starts by laying the groundwork for what’s likely to be another perfect enemies-to-lovers story: two students, Sun (Ping Krittanun Aunchananun) and Bay (Teshow Promsakha Na Sakonnakhon), have it out for each other almost 24/7.
Sun is a rising tennis star set for the big leagues, while Bay is a multi-talented student who excels at the arts. These two could easily just stick to their own lanes, but their rivalry seems like second nature at this point. It has truly reached silly proportions.
Sun and Bay actively keep the rivalry alive and strong. In fact, there are even traditions to their rivalry, like how they race every day after school to decide who gets to take the ferry versus the train home because they can’t fathom riding on the same public transportation together at the same time. Even a simple game of dodgeball turns into an intense battle, while onlooking students just watch and sigh, knowing this is entirely normal for them.
To make matters worse, they also live across the street from each other, so their rivalry isn’t limited to school. Their own fathers are also extreme rivals with competing businesses. It could very well be that the rivalry between Sun and Bay is not even originally their own, but rather something that was passed down to them.
There’s also more than just a silly rivalry going on here. There’s pressure from both their parents to be better than the other, and it seems like their own dreams have gotten confused with what their parents want for them.
When Sun questions Bay’s passion for art, Bay fires back, questioning if Sun even likes tennis, or if it’s just something he’s been doing because of his dad. As the two start to explore the truth behind their rivalry and what’s really going on between them, it looks like they’ll also be having some realizations about what they really want to be doing with their life.
By all means, they seem perfectly comfortable in their rivalry, but something unexpected jeopardizes their petty fighting that they love so much. Suddenly, Sun announces that he’s planning to leave school after the semester ends and join the national tennis team’s training camp. When Bay hears this, he not only seems surprised but also disappointed.
Sun, therefore, calls for a truce for his remaining time at school, but Bay has other plans. He sees their remaining time together as one final chance to mess with Sun, or so he says. While he makes it seem like he wants to give their rivalry one last hurrah, it also looks like he just wants to spend as much time as possible by Sun’s side before he disappears, but he’s definitely not ready to admit that yet.
Instead, Bay has a plan. He rummages through his closet and takes out an old, dusty tennis racket. As it happens, a tennis competition is taking place at school, and anyone can sign up. Can you guess what happens next? It’s time for their rivalry to go from the school hallways to the tennis court.
Ignoring Sun’s request for a truce, Bay signs up for the tennis competition. In a heated moment of annoyance, Sun signs up too, even though he had planned to sit this one out and let the other players have a chance (he’s really that good). So far, Sun has been the top tennis player at the school, and virtually no one has been able to beat him. However, Bay isn’t just some tennis rookie.
Bay might have his sights on pursuing art, but he’s actually not too shabby at tennis either. Though it’s been about 10 years, he used to play tennis too. It hasn’t been explained yet why he played and why he stopped, but given how Sun gets concerned when he sees Bay practicing, it’s clear that Bay is a formidable opponent.
But of course, something happens the night before their match and re-adjusts the odds. Sun coincidentally gets injured and hurts his shoulder. Unwilling to forfeit, he plays against Bay anyway, even though his friends and coach advise him not to.
Ultimately, Bay perseveres and wins against Sun. Granted, it wasn’t entirely an equal fight to begin with, but Bay certainly held his own and showed his abilities as a tennis player, despite being at a totally different level compared to Sun. It makes you wonder who would be on top if Bay were to seriously pursue tennis alongside Sun.
These two certainly act like rivals, but the longing glances and the secret thoughtfulness when no one is looking say otherwise. If you’re an expert on enemies-to-lovers, you’ll recognize the signs pretty quickly. There’s something suspicious going on here, even if the leads themselves don’t realize it yet. Chemistry doesn’t lie, and these two have loads of it.
Their dynamic is definitely “Bad Buddy” coded, but in this case, they’re in high school, and the rivalry feels even more ridiculous and funny because these two actively try to annoy each other rather than avoid interacting. Taking the high road simply isn’t in their vocabulary.
Odds are there’s a tennis rematch in their future when Sun has healed up and Bay has had more time to train, but now the clock is ticking for this rivalry. Hopefully, the idea of their impending separation gets them to rethink their relationship and consider the possibility that they can be something more.
Start watching “Match Point” now:
Asya’s a BL-biased Soompi writer with a love of K-pop and all types of Asian dramas. Some of her favorite shows are “Psychopath Diary,” “Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice but to Kiss!,” “Light On Me,” “The Untamed,” “Go Go Squid!,” and “Cherry Magic!“
Currently watching: “After Moving Seats, The Boy Behind Me Has A Crush On Me,” “A Bona Fide Killer,” “Mr. Kill,” “Popular Serizawa Acts Weird Around Me,” “Hold On, Harutora-Kun,” “Connecting to You,” “Match Point,” “Don’t Be Too Emotional,” “Be My Player Two,” “Nour,” “Mr. Fanboy,” “Summertime,” “Unlucky Bae,” and “Class Crush Crisis.”
Looking forward to: “Love Scandal,” “Magic Lover,” and “The Love Matter.”
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