Kamala Kannan had a matchpoint at 6-5 in the tie-break but was unable to convert as Shah pounced on his weak second serve. Two more telling shots, a crosscourt winner and a deeply angled volley enabled Shah to take the second set.

Shah jumped to a 2-0 lead in the third but Kamala Kannan won four games in a row and took the match with his fifth match point.

Sunil Kumar (Chandigarh) beat Ravi Kiran Bhat 6-2, 6-2. Bhat, the fifth seed from Karnataka who decimated top seed Tembe on Wednesday, was at the receiving end today. Nothing went right for him.

Holding serve was a problem. Getting into a rally did nothelp him either as Sunil invariably had the last laugh. Breaking Sunil's serve a few times was the only bright spot in his game.

Sunil jumped into 5-1 lead in both the sets which carried him through as Bhat looked exhausted towards the end.

Despite losing three out of four times against Kamala Kannan, Sunil Kumar sounded optimistic about Saturday's final.

Kanury, Nandita in final: Top seed Sandhya Kanury (TN) advanced to a title showdown with eighth seed Nandita Chandrasekar (TN). Despite a scrappy first round, Kanury blew Samrita Sekar off the court in the semifinals 6-0, 6-2.

Nandita took apart fourth seed Nischella Reddy 6-3, 6-1.

Results (semi-finals): Boys singles: 7-Kamala Kannan (TN) bt 2-Kedar Shah (Maharashtra) 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4; 4-Sunil Kumar (Chandigarh) bt 5-Ravi Kiran Bhat (Karnataka) 6-2, 6-2.

Girls singles: 1-Sandhya Kanury (TN) bt Samrita Sekar (TN) 6-0, 6-2; 8-Nandita Chandrasekar (TN) bt 4-Nischella Reddy 6-3, 6-1.