WATCH: PV Sindhu – Nozomi Okuhara's incredible 73-stroke rally in World Badminton Championships 2017 final

PTI

New Delhi: Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu lost to Japanese seventh seed Nozomi Okuhara in the Women's Singles final of the World Badminton Championships, in arguably one of the most fiercly competitive encounter in the history of the sport.

In the second set, while leading 21-20, it was Sindhu serving for the game point and her bid to take the match into third set.

The crowd present in the arena witnessed an incredible 73-stroke rally, with both players unwilling to give away the point.

Here's the video of the epic rally:

#bwfworldchampionship2017 longest rally for the 2nd game's game point finally taken by @Pvsindhu1 ..... India... India... Sundhu.. Sindhu pic.twitter.com/goBsc5CnWH — Ashwani K Goel (@itsashwanigoel) August 27, 2017

Here's a look at it from another angle:

It was the longest match of the tournament, which tested the physical and mental strength of both the players, Sindhu lost 19-21 22-20 20-22 after battling hard for one hour and 49 minutes.

Their bodies were falling apart as the match progressed but both Sindhu and Okuhara used every ounce of energy left in them to make it an epic contest.

After closing the second game by winning an incredible 73-shot rally, Sindhu saved one championship point in the decider but it was the Rio Olympic bronze medallist who had the last laugh.

For India, it still is a historic edition since for the first time country's shuttler are returning with two medals. Saina Nehwal won a bronze yesterday after losing her semifinal.

It was also Sindhu's third medal at the World Championships, with a bronze apiece from the 2013 and 2014 editions in her bag.