Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia Masters], June 1 : The women's Round of 16 matches at the Malaysia Masters 2023 badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur last week included a remarkable 211-shot long rally between Malaysia's Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan and Japan's Rena Miyaura and Ayako Sakuramoto.
A video of this marathon rally quickly gained popularity on social media.
A long rally that lasted three minutes was performed during the third game of the match, at that moment the scores were 16-14 in favour of the Malaysian duo.
The lengthy rally, which put every muscle and trick of the courtside trade to the test, left all four players worn out. The game came to an end when Pearly Tan capitalised on the opportunity with a sneaky drop shot that evaded Sakuramoto's frantic reach.
{{{{twitter_post_id####}}}}Sit back, relax and enjoy this monumental rally !@HSBC_Sport#HSBCbadminton #BWFWorldTour #MalaysiaMasters2023 pic.twitter.com/o0Anh10ACG— BWF (@bwfmedia) May 25, 2023
"Winning the rally felt like winning the match," Muralitharan said as quoted by Olympics.com. "I also thought that we won after surviving the rally."
Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan eventually went on to clinch the match 21-17, 18-21, 21-19 in 48 minutes. But it was that stupendous rally that made headlines in the badminton world.
"I was too excited that it was finally over because it was exhausting and we just wanted it to end fast," Muralitharan explained.
"When it was over, I really needed a break and I threw the racket as collecting it from the ground gave me some time to rest."
"We knew we were tired but the opponent was tired too," Pearly Tan added. "In our minds, we wanted to win that shot, so we just mentally prepared ourselves very well."
The Malaysian duo made it to the finals of the Malaysia Masters women's doubles event where they lost to Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee of the Republic of Korea.
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