This year, the division III World Championships of ice hockey is being played in Sofia, Bulgaria, between 10 and 17 April, with Team Luxembourg participating; On Monday morning they opened their account with a 17-0 trashing of the United Arab Emirates (4-0, 6-0, 7-0).

Last year when the championship was played in Turkey, Team Luxembourg returned home with their 10th bronze medal; this year the Lions should have a good chance to bring back home more medals.

The tournament contains a total of eight teams divided into two groups. Luxembourg plays in Group B together with United Arab Emirates (Monday 10 April), Georgia (Tuesday 11 April) and South Africa (Thursday 13 April). Hosts Bulgaria are in Group A along with Bosnia Herzegovina, Hong Kong and newcomers Chinese Taipei. After the group stages, the semi-finals will be played on Saturday and the finals on Sunday.

Making a comparison to last year, Team Luxembourg looks stronger as they have got some vital players back to the roster. IHC Beaufort legends including Benny Welter, Ben Houdremont and François Schons are back in business after a one-year break. Together with Tornado stars all-time scoring leader Robo Beran, Colm Cannon and Marcus Eriksson will build a very strong core for the team to do well in the tournament. Either way, goalkeeping has never been the Achilles heel for the team...

In Divison III, everything can be possible and sometimes teams surprise with their quality rosters. In Group B, South Africa and Georgia look to be be the strongest opponents for the Lions. South Africa has been travelling between Division 2 and Division 3 the past few years. Last year they beat Luxembourg 3-2 after very tight game. Georgia also had a very strong team last year and they originally won the bronze medal, but after the tournament they were disqualified as some of the players were not eligible to represent the country.

In the other group the hosts, Bulgaria, is strong with some players from North American leagues. An interesting team will be also Chinese Taipei who have got some good results in Asian tournaments this year.

The good news for ice-hockey fans is that all the games will be streamed live via the internet - see www.iihf.com/competition/603/