The European Championships begin in Fuessen on Saturday 1st December and England’s teams will be hoping for succes in the B Division, aiming for promotion to the A Division and also qualification for the World Championships.

The Men (Andrew Reed, James Dixon, Tom Jaeggi, Andrew Dixon and Neil Murray) are in one of three groups in the B Division and have to finish in the top 2 to qualify for a play-off. Winning the group guarantees a semi-final place while coming second could require two extra games to reach the semi. Their opposition are Latvia, Wales, Bulgaria, Belarus, Lithuania and Serbia. Expect Wales and Latvia to be the main opposition.

The women (Kirsty Balfour, Caroline Reed, Claire Grimwood, Joan Reed and Sarah McVey) also have to finish in the top 2, but that will guarantee them a semi-final place. Finishing second would probably mean them facing Norway in that semi - not a good prospect as Dordi Nordby has come out of retirement to try and lead the Norwegians back to the A Division. England’s group consists of Netherlands, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and Croatia. Latvia are again a threat as will be Netherlands who played A Division last year.

Full details at www.ecc2007.de