The 2023 European Championships B-Division kicks off this Saturday in Perth, Scotland with Ireland’s men set to take part. The competition, which runs from 18th-25th November, marks the second year the Irish men will compete at this level after a recent successful return. The team of John Wilson, Kyle Paradis, James Russell, and Craig Whyte supported by coach Eoin McCrossan made the playoff round last year and will be hoping for more of the same.

The competition will see 16 teams compete in two groups of 8, battling it out for two promotion spots to next year’s top tier. The top three teams of each group will proceed to the playoffs for the medals and promotion opportunities, whereas the bottom two in each group will battle to avoid the trapdoor that will send two of them back to the C division.

Ireland is in group B alongside recently relegated Spain, England, Wales, Slovakia, and Austria along with promoted sides Ukraine and Liechtenstein. Their first game is against Spain on Saturday at 2pm and their round-robin efforts conclude with their Ukraine game on Thursday afternoon.

Following their golden success at the 2022 C-Division in Lithuania, Ireland’s men travelled to Ostersund, Sweden last season, and with a record of 4-3, made it to the playoff round before succumbing to France in a tight playoff game. This hasn’t changed the focus of the team who know that the competition will be tight.

“Last year our group was so evenly matched that coming into the last game we could have finished anywhere from 7th to 3rd. We know that there’ll be tough competition ahead but we’re feeling good and excited to get going!”

Admission to the event at the Dewar’s Centre, Perth is free and live scores, schedule and team information can be found here.