In the final on the morrow, Kirtane faces second seed Vinod Sridhar (Tamil Nadu) who brought plenty of cheer to the hosts, as he overcame Saurav Panja of Delhi, 7-6 (4), 7-5 in the first semi-final.

It was a fairy-tale win for Kirtane who was blown off the court in the first set, not so much by the strong winds, but by Reddy's precision play and his own wayward game. In the second, the Maharashtrian came up with a crucial break in the 11th game and then held serve for the set. The decider saw Reddy jumping to a 3-0 lead as Kirtane struggled initially, before touching peak form and wrapping up six games in a row for the match.