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Welshman Ben Davies flew out with the Great Britain ice hockey team to the World Championships and said: “It’s great to be back.”
Cardiff-Born former Devils forward Davies, who now plays for Elite League Guildford Flames, is in the 23-strong national team heading to Budapest.
Davies says the GB camp is upbeat as they prepare for their Division One group A fixtures in Hungary.
He is among three Welsh players selected by GB coach Peter Russell, along with Matthew Myers (Devils) and Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield Steelers).
Myers, Mark Richardson, Ben Bowns and Thomas Murdy are the four Devils players included.
Davies is back in the national fold after missing the last two World Championship campaigns and featured in Sunday’s 7-2 challenge match defeat against Lithuania.
And the former Bishop of Llandaff School pupil says he and the rest of the team want to hit the ground running when they take on Slovenia in Sunday’s opening game.
“In a way, it feels like I’ve been away, but it’s certainly good to be back and we have some tough tests against good opposition next week,” he said.
“I played on Sunday and there were mistakes over both matches against Lithuania and it’s perhaps good those happened in the pre-tournament games so we can iron them out.
“It was good to be among the guys discussing lines and getting the chemistry going. We’ve worked hard on things like that.
“Everybody is excited and upbeat for the campaign ahead and we’re keen to get started.
“There’s a big game on Sunday against Slovenia and we aim to start the right way and set the tone for the rest of the week.”
Following their gold medal promotion in Belfast a year ago GB will face hosts Hungary, along with Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland and Slovenia in the Papp Laszlo Sportarena.
World Championship matches for Britain in Budapest:
Sunday 22 Great Britain v Slovenia
Tuesday 24 Kazakhstan v Great Britain
Wednesday 25 Great Britain v Poland
Friday 27 Italy v Great Britain
Saturday 28 Hungary v Great Britain
GB’s 23-man squad:
Netminders: Ben Bowns (Cardiff Devils), Jackson Whistle (Belfast Giants), Thomas Murdy (Cardiff Devils, reserve).
Defence: Dallas Ehrhardt (Manchester Storm), Steve Lee (Nottingham Panthers), Ben O’Connor (Sheffield Steelers), David Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils), Zach Sullivan (Braehead Clan), Paul Swindlehurst (Manchester Storm).
Forwards: Ollie Betteridge (Nottingham Panthers), Brendan Brooks (Braehead Clan), Ben Davies (Guildford Flames), Robert Dowd (Sheffield Steelers), Robert Farmer (Nottingham Panthers), Luke Ferrara (Coventry Blaze), Mike Hammond (Manchester Storm), Liam Kirk (Sheffield Steelers), Robert Lachowicz (Nottingham Panthers), Matthew Myers (Cardiff Devils), Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Brett Perlini (Nottingham Panthers), Colin Shields (Belfast Giants).
