The Malaysian women Thinaah Muralitharan and Pearly Tan finally managed to grab the point after a 3-minute rally against the Japanese pair of Rena Miyaura and Ayako Sakuramoto. They celebrated this as a victory. Muralitharan threw her racket into the air and Tan dropped to the floor to catch her breath. The audience gave the four women a standing ovation.
“Winning the rally felt like winning the race. I was too excited for it to finally be over because it was exhausting and we just wanted it to end quickly. When it was over I really needed a break. I threw my racket to get some rest,” said Muralitharan.
,,We knew we were tired, but the opponent was also tired”, said Tan. “In our mind we wanted to win that point, so we prepared well mentally.”
It is not clear whether it is a real record. Last year at the Korea Open, a women’s rally lasted 195 strokes. At that time, the global badminton association spoke of a record.