Vasant's opponent in Saturday's final will be top seed and India No 5 Vinod Sridhar of Tamil Nadu who overwhelmed statemate Ranganathan Narendra 6-2, 6-1 in the other semi-final.

Xavier had few answers to his adversary's strategy as they came on for the second set. Vasant took a 5-0 lead, a double fault in the fourth game adding to Xavier's woes. Though Xavier held serve for 1-5 in the sixth game, Vasant served out the tie in the next, reaching match-point with a blistering ace. Vasant settled the issue without losing a point as Xavier hit a return of serve into the net.

Sridhar, the only seed to survive, had all the answers against Ranganathan Narendran. Playing serve-and-volley, Narendra anticipated errors from Sridhar but the latter proved too good, with some excellent returns being the highlight of his game.

Games went with serve inthe second set until Sridhar broke in the fourth for 3-1. When Sridhar earned a second break in the sixth to lead 5-1, there was little hope of Narendra staging a fightback.

Doubles top seeds Asif Ismail and Kedar Shah of Maharashtra breezed into the final with a 6-0, 6-1 rout of state-mates Vasant and Chetan Desai to set up a title clash with Xavier and Sanzarus Zaman who overcame Tamil Nadu's Sridhar and S Ganesh 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.