Picture Credit: Twitter
The women's doubles quarterfinals of the ongoing Malaysia Masters 2023 included an unbelievable 211-shot rally between the Malaysian pair of Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan and Japan's Rena Miyaura/Ayako Sakuramoto. The rally took place in the third set of the match after both teams had won a set apiece and Malaysia was leading in the third set 16-14. After a mind-blowing display of endurance and athleticism that lasted more than three minutes, Tan sealed the point with a well-placed drop shot that Sakuramoto was unable to reach, raising an astounded crowd to their feet. The Malaysian duo went on to win the set and game 21-19.
The official BWF handle also shared the video of this record-breaking rally on Twitter. The video has gone viral all over the internet and has amassed more than 1.6k likes.
“Winning the rally felt like winning the match. I also thought that we won after surviving the rally,” said a tired Thinaah after the match. “I was too excited that it was finally over because it was exhausting and we just wanted it to end fast. 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,” she added further.
The rally might have been the longest ever seen in a game of competition, another women's doubles match in the Korea Open in 2017 featured a 195-shot exchange, which the Badminton World Federation claimed to be a record at the time.
The Malaysian pair of Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan played another game after and defeated the Japanese duo of Hirota and Fukushima in the quarter-finals 13-21, 21-19, 21-16. They will now take on South Korea’s Kim and Jeong in the semi-finals which will take place on May 27.
