While the fifth seed Merchant made a mockery of the seedings with a 6-0 drubbing of current national champion and top seed Devendra Joshi, Shandilya overcame a late challenge by Cherag Ramakrishnan 5-2.

The best of 11 frames encounter which lasted a little over two hours was a major let down except for some brilliant performances by the fifth-seeded Merchant.

Joshi, who had beaten his fancied opponent on the last two encounters (at the Bangalore Asian Games camp), was relegated to a mere spectator to Merchant's heroics.

``I am absolutely disappointed with myself,'' said an embarrassed Joshi with his characteristic boyish smile. ``Merchant played exceptionally well and gave me no chances. Throughout the match I felt as if I was using a heavy stick not a cue,'' he added.

There was nostopping Merchant today who looks in good enough form to bag the Rs 51,000 winner's cheque when he meets Shandilya on Saturday.

Shandilya always looked in command to contain Cherag. ``He did not play well and that made things easy,'' he admitted modestly.

Chirag, who was playing in only his second tournament after a year's lay-off, was a picture of disappointment after the match. ``I played badly when it mattered the most,'' he said.

Earlier Cherag, had upset third seed Alok Kumar 5-2 in a quarter-final encounter late last evening.

In the first semi-final, such was Merchant's devastating form that his frame scores registered in three digits on two occasions.

The first frame, the longest of the match, saw Joshi offer some resistance. But a blue missed, for a snooker, saw Merchant win the frame at 61-25. A half-century break in the second frame further put him 2-0 up.

Joshi looked in control in the next frame but not for long as Merchant continued with the fireworks. A break of 81 saw him end with aframe score of 111-24. But this looked pedestrian to the break of 112 that Merchant conjured up in the fourth to take the frame at 133-0 amid loud applause.

``I did not expect to win by this margin,'' said Merchant after the match. ``It was surprising but he (Joshi) was not playing well while I managed to hang on,'' he added. ``But I am still not happy with myself. The initial stages of the tournament were good but there has been a slight downfall later on.''

Merchant wound up the match with scores of 69-12, 53-13.

Joshi had to satisfy himself with Rs 15,000 while Merchant guarantees himself Rs 30,000. He also stands to win an additional Rs 1,000 for his century break.

RESULT (semi-finals)

5-Yasin Merchant bt 1-Devndra Joshi 6-0 (61, 25, 58-8, 111-24, 133-0, 69-12, 53-13); 2-Ashok Shandilya bt Cherag Ramakrishnan 5-2 (63-15, 68-45, 70-18, 60-24, 12-75, 56-4, 26-46, 72-46)