In one of the most anticipated bouts of the day, Lal, unlike his usual self, decided to let his opponent make the first move, knowing that Harijan is a strong counter attacker.
The tactics paid off and almost every time Harijan charged in, Lal got the better of him with some swift combinations, doing the most damage in the second round at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium.
Santosh tried hard to get back into the game in the final three minutes, but Madan was up to the task. In the end, the Services boxer went on to make his place in the finals with 15-9 win on points.
In the summit clash, Lal takes on Delhi boxer Gaurav Bidhuri, who beat Mahminathan of Karnataka in another semifinal bout.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Amandeep Singh of the Railways and 2009 Asian Championship gold medallist Nanao Singh of Services also made it to the light flyweight finals.
Amandeep defeated a feisty Naveen Kumar from Haryana while Nanao also had to work hard against Pankaj Saini of Punjab. The two Services boxers will now lock horns against each other tomorrow in the final for the third time.
In the welter weight division, Railways boxer and multiple national champion Dlibagh Singh continued his purple patch registering an easy victory over Manish Uikey of Madhya Pradesh. MORE