Prior to the championship, coach Vasudevan Baskaran, with his typical nonchalance, had shrugged off the challenge before his young team. ``We have a few youngsters and I am confident we will do well,'' he had stated.

In fact, Railways have done extremely well in reaching the semis with a bunch of players short on experience but not lacking in dash and sparkle.

Comprising of several junior India players, the Railways have it in them to pull off a coup against Airlines who, boasting of an array of senior National stars, must be bristling with confidence.

Baskaran, of course, would be opting for strengthening themidfield where he has always believed matches are won and lost. It was a tactic that he employed with Indian teams that he trained in the recent past, and indications are he would stick to his beliefs.

Airlines, as is to be expected, would be looking to their seniors -- crafty winger Mukesh Kumar and pivot Md Riaz -- to see them past Railways. In the defence too they seem to be better placed with full-back Dilip Tirkey and goalkeeper Ashish Ballal in attendance.

In the other semi-final, Tamil Nadu the only state unit to have advanced this far, take on Central Excise and Customs. It is unlikely to provide fare equivalent to the Railways-Airlines clash, the winner of which is favourite to annex the Rangaswamy Cup on Friday.

The first semi-final tie between Railways and Airlines will start at 0915 hours and the second match between Excise and Tamil Nadu at 1515 hours. The final will be played on March 26 from 1515 hours. HOW THEY ADVANCED:

Indian Airlines (league): bt Haryana 7-1, bt J&K 3-0, btMaharashtra 8-0, bt Orissa 6-2. (QF): bt UP 2-1.

Railways (league): bt Bihar 5-1, bt Rajasthan 13-0, bt Andhra 5-1, bt Punjab 3-1. (QF): bt BSF 4-1.

Customs (league): bt Tata Sports 2-1, bt Karnataka 1-0, bt Chandigarh 2-1, bt Delhi 3-1, bt Madhya Bharat 4-1. (QF): bt Punjab & Sind Bank 2-0.

Tamil Nadu (league): bt Patiala 5-1, bt Bhopal 3-3, bt Manipur 10-1. (QF): bt CRPF 1-0.