As history beckoned her, P.V. Sindhu took to the court to face world number one Tai Tzuying of Chinese Taipei in the women's singles gold medal match in the 18th Asian Games. Sindhu, however, settled for silver after losing to Tzuying 13-21, 16-21.
The two had previously faced each other 12 times, with Tai taking the win in nine. Sindhu had last defeated Tai at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Sindhu, however, had had a tremendously consistent run of form, reaching the finals of several major tournaments in the past two years. Sindhu's most recent achievement was the silver at the BWF World Championships, where she lost to Spain's Carolina Marin.
The atmosphere in the arena was electric, with the Indonesian Jonatan Christie just having won gold in the men's singles, besting Chinese Taipei's Tienchen Chou 21-18, 20-22, 21-15.
The crowd was such that accredited journalists had to wait for 20 minutes to enter.
Tai started off by making Sindhu stretch to both sides of the court. She then hit a smash that went between Sindhu's legs. It was 3-0 to Tai. She then made it 5-0 with another smash. There was some extraordinary placement by Tai. Sindhu made a short-lived comeback, making it 4-6. It was like playing catch up. Tai looked the superior player. But she gave away a point when her serve went out. At the break, it was 11-7 in Tai's favour.
Close to nothing separates the top female shuttlers in the world right now, but Tai was the one on song. After Sindhu won successive points to make it 11-9, Tai raced ahead to 17-10. She continued her blitz to take the first set 21-13.
In the second set, Sindhu took the first point, but Tai then made it 3-1. Sindhu was beaten once, then hit the net, and hit it out of the court in the third instance. It was 4-4, when Sindhu hit her serve too long. She then hit the net twice to make it 7-4. Tai then hit the net once, making it 8-4. At the break, it was 11-7.
A seemingly frustrated Sindhu banged her racket against the advertisement board.
The Indians cheered every point Sindhu made, waiting for a comeback. But it was soon 13-8 in Tai's favour.
Sindhu, at one point, hit her serve into the net, to make it 10-14. Tai then went for the kill. Another net cord, and Sindhu unleashed a scream. It was 17-11. Sindhu made a mini comeback, making it 16-20, but eventually lost 21-16.