Chennai: Indian Railways would be looking at an encore by winning both the men's and women's titles at the 62nd senior National basketball championships commencing on Friday.

The tournament returns to Tamil Nadu after a lapse of 38 years, but it would take a brave man to back the hosts, fielding a young team that is short on experience, to be the last team standing on Dec 24 when the competition concludes.

While Tamil Nadu's glory days when they won the men's title five times on the trot are a thing of the past, the Railways can expect a strong challenge from Uttarakhand who have roped in Yadwinder Singh and Vishesh Briguvanshi besides a bunch of India players.

Mohammed Nazar, the newly-appointed coach of Tamil Nadu who last won the title in 2003, said: "Since we are playing at home, the expectations will be high. We will be fielding the youngest team in the championship."

In the women's section, the Railways, winners for the past 14 years, enjoy a huge advantage with the array of India players in their ranks, notably Geetu Anna Jose who all but made it to the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Such has been Railways strength that in last year's final, they drubbed Delhi 95-55 with Jose notching 29 points for the winners. In a league game against Punjab, the Railways won 142-41 which emphasised their overwhelming superiority.