Dubai World Superseries Finals 2017: PV Sindhu and Akane Yamaguchi play out epic 52-shot rally, watch video

PV Sindhu played her heart out in a grueling 94-minute final against Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the Dubai World Superseries Finals, on Sunday.

Despite all of Sindhu’s efforts, however, Yamaguchi managed to edge-out the Hyderabad-born shuttler in the third and deciding game, as she clinched the match 15-21, 21-12, 21-19.

While the first two games of the match were straightforward affairs for Sindhu and Yamaguchi respectively, the deciding game went right down to the wire, where the Japanese shuttler just edged ahead in the end.

However, the highlight of the match was most definitely in the second game, at a point when the two shuttlers were tied at 13-13. With both the shuttlers looking find the other’s weakness, neither looked like they wanted to give even an inch away, as they played out a 52-point rally.

Sindhu looked to be the dominating force during this rally, as she moved her opponent all over the court, alternating between long smashes, and drop shots. However, Yamaguchi too held on to return whatever Sindhu threw at her. At the end, however, a cross-court drop shot by Sindhu was what made the difference, as Yamaguchi only managed to slide the shuttle under the net.

All that effort was to go in vain, however, as Sindhu would go on to lost the deciding game 19-21. Despite her loss though, Sindhu had already created history, as she became the first Indian shuttler to make it to the respective summit clashes of the BWF World Championships and the Superseries Finals in a calendar year.