The Irish men, competing in the European B league championships, have been on a roll – qualifying directly to the semi-finals with a 6-1 record in the round robin. This is a fantastic achievement – supported by funding from Sport Ireland brokered by the Olympic Federation of Ireland – and the first time an Irish team has made the semi-finals since 2010. The holy grail is qualification for the Euro A league and the guys are one game away from achieving that with Turkiye or Poland their opponents in the semi-final. Given that Ireland’s men have been in the C league since 2012 before promotion in 2022, this represents a real step up and is the result of real resilience and dedication. Cheer them on at 0700 UK time on Saturday morning.