Syndrela Das and Sutirtha Mukherjee Finish Runners-Up at WTT Contender Almaty After Thrilling Final Fight

Syndrela Das and Sutirtha Mukherjee produced an impressive run at the WTT Contender Almaty 2026, finishing runners-up in the women’s doubles competition after a difficult final against Japan’s Miu Hirano and Miyuu Kihara in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Sunday.

The third-seeded Indian pair were beaten 3-0 by the Japanese combination, with the match ending 11-2, 11-5, 20-18 in favour of Hirano and Kihara. While the scoreline suggested a comfortable victory for the Japanese pair over the first two games, the third game turned into a dramatic battle, with the Indians pushing their opponents all the way before narrowly missing out.

Despite falling short in the summit clash, reaching the final represented a significant result for Das and Mukherjee, particularly after they produced one of the biggest wins of their campaign in the semifinals.

The Indian pair entered the final after defeating the tournament's top-seeded duo Diya Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade in the semifinals.

Das and Mukherjee prevailed 11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, overcoming the leading seeds to book their place in the title clash.

That victory ensured that the Indians would have a chance to compete for a WTT Contender title, but standing in their way were two highly accomplished Japanese players in Hirano and Kihara.

The final also gave the Indian pair another opportunity to test themselves against one of the world's strongest combinations.

The opening two games were largely controlled by the Japanese pair. Hirano and Kihara raced through the first game 11-2 before taking the second 11-5. Das and Mukherjee struggled to find their rhythm and were unable to put sustained pressure on their opponents during the early stages.

However, the third game produced an entirely different contest. The Indians began strongly and established a 6-2 lead, raising hopes of a remarkable comeback. But the Japanese pair responded with an eight-point surge across the next 10 points to move ahead.

Hirano and Kihara eventually reached 10-8, putting themselves two points away from victory. The Indian duo refused to surrender.

Das and Mukherjee saved two match points and fought their way back into contention. The game then developed into a tense exchange, with both pairs battling for every point. India managed to create opportunities and pushed the game deep beyond the usual 11-point finish, but the Japanese combination held their nerve when it mattered most.

Hirano and Kihara eventually closed out the third game 20-18, completing a 3-0 victory and securing the women's doubles title.

The result also extended Hirano and Kihara's head-to-head advantage over Das and Mukherjee to 2-0. The two pairs had previously met in the qualifiers of the WTT Contender Zagreb earlier in the year, where the Japanese combination also won 3-0. For the Indians, therefore, Almaty provided a much deeper challenge despite the final result being identical on paper.

The third-game fightback showed that Das and Mukherjee were capable of competing with the experienced Japanese duo when they found their rhythm.

Hirano's successful week in Almaty extended beyond women's doubles. The Japanese star also captured the women's singles title, defeating compatriot Miyu Nagasaki 3-1, with the final score reading 4-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-7. That meant Hirano walked away from the tournament with two titles, having combined with Kihara to win the women's doubles competition.

The other titles at WTT Contender Almaty went to Japan's Shunsuke Togami in men's singles, Russia's Lev Katsman and Maksim Grebnev in men's doubles, and Russia's Evgeny Tikhonov and Maria Panfilova in mixed doubles.

Although Das and Mukherjee missed out on the trophy, their run to the final remains an encouraging result for Indian women's doubles. Beating the top seeds in the semifinals demonstrated their ability to perform under pressure, while their resistance in the third game of the final showed considerable fighting spirit after a difficult start.

The challenge now will be to convert such deep runs into titles on a more consistent basis. For Das and Mukherjee, the WTT Contender Almaty campaign provided both a strong result and valuable experience against a high-quality Japanese combination.

The final may have ended in defeat, but the Indian pair leave Kazakhstan with a WTT Contender runners-up finish, having beaten the tournament's top seeds on their way to the summit clash.