In the semifinals, holders Punjab defeated Maharashtra 3-0 and could have won by a bigger margin but for some excellent goalkeeping by Maharashtra's Tiware Ranjit.

Punjab had to wait for 30 long minutes before Asif Ali opened his team's account with a goal. Devender Singh and Amandeep Singh added a goal each in the 38th and 40th minutes to seal Maharashtra's fate. In the other semifinal, North Eastern Region, comprising mainly of boys from Manipur, beat Orissa 4-3 via tie-breaker.

The teams were locked goalless till the stipulated period. NER ultimately gained their maiden entry into the final through penalty kicks. In the tie-breaker, NER converted four penalty corners through Megha Chander, Santa, R Rai and Rajender. Orissa, on the other hand, could convert only four penalties.

The final will be played on August 11. There will be only positional matches in football in the morning session on Friday.

In positional matches, Gujarat defeated Tamil Nadu 5-0, Kerala beat MP 4-0, Bengal ousted Karnataka 3-1 and Rajasthan downed Jammu and Kashmir 6-1.

In volleyball (girls) positional matches, Delhi downed Bengal 15-7, 15-13. In other matches, Tamil Nadu beat Orissa 15-3, 15-7; Maharashtra bt Karnataka 15-10, 15-7; UP bt J-K 15-1, 15-2; Guajarat bt Bihar 15-4, 15-6; Kerala bt MP 15-3, 15-5; and Rajasthan bt NER 15-1, 15-0.