NANJING, CHINA (AFP) - A mammoth 117-shot rally lit up the badminton World Championships quarter-finals on Friday (Aug 3), leaving spectators in giggles and the players panting.

The seemingly never-ending exchange took place during an attritional men's doubles clash between Indonesia and Japan in Nanjing.

The Indonesian top-ranked duo of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, and Japan's Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda, traded shots early in the second game.

The Indonesians were down a game 21-19 and came off worse at the end of the rally, during which the duos repeatedly waited before attacking, only to be repelled.

Spectators laughed as the pairs hit the shuttlecock back and forth, before Kamura finally forced Gideon to hit wide.

The Badminton World Federation counted 117 shots before Japan won the point to go up 7-4 in the second game.

It helped Kamura and Sonoda, the fifth seeds, pull off an upset and reach the semi-finals.