It was the second game of the final of the World Championships between Japan's Nozomi Okuhara and India's PV Sindhu. The second game was quite a roller-coaster for Sindhu and evenly poised at 13-13, with both shuttlers giving it their all for each point. It was a must-win game for Sindhu too, having lost the opener 19-21. From that point on, the Indian accelerated and won the next three points to make it 16-13 in her favour.
Okuhara fought hard and at one point, she made it 18-17, reducing the gap to just the one point. A delightful net dribble by the Indian and an unforced error from Okuhara gave Sindhu three game points but much to her credit, the Japanese shuttler dug deep and saved all them, to make the scoreline 20-20.
Sindhu then won the next one to bring up her fourth game point and in the next minute or two, fans were treated to the most enthralling badminton they'll ever get to see. Sindhu took the game 22-20 but not before winning an enthralling 73-stroke rally. It had everything - from clears, to drops, to drops, to half-smashes, to smashes and some diving retrievals thrown in. At the end of it all, both players were on their knees, completely exhausted and took a long pause to lift themselves to their feet.
The third game too went right down to the wire and it was the Japanese who held her nerve to take it 22-20 after having one match point. This 110-minute match will surely go down as one of the greatest in the history of the sport and is also the longest women's singles match in history, ever since the rally point system was introduced.
A fitting point for a fitting final! It doesn't get any better than this!