The GB Senior squad is set to travel to Bulgaria for the 4th IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championships. The squad has started 2023 strongly with a win in the Qualification Phase 1 of the EHF Euro 2026, securing their place in Qualification Phase 2. They have been developing nicely under the leadership of Ricardo Vasconcelos and his team, and believe many more positive performances will achieve greater success for this squad.
The GB Senior squad has competed in this competitions since it began in 2015. The results have been mixed over the years; 9th in 2015, 11th in 2017, but more recently 4th in 2019. This latter result marked their upward development, and their progress has continued strongly despite COVID-19 disrupting competitions.
For this competition, 4 players will make their debuts alongside many experienced players. Sebastien Edgar is reigning top goal scorer at the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championships with 66 goals back at Georgia 2019, and has been second best score in the EHF Euro 2026 Qualifiers.
The squad face a big challenge this competition, with a tough draw for the group. They will need to win against Cuba and Guatemala to progress to the semi-finals, as only the first team in each group makes it to the next stage. Four years ago, GB lost against Cuba in the group phase, 27-35, so this competition they will be ready to amend this, and compete to win.
Provisional List
Aaron Gillet. Club: AC Boulogne. Position - Goalkeeper
Alex Winterbottom. Club: Oar Grâcia Sabadell. Position - Left Back
Benjamin Tyler. Club: Nottingham Handball Club. Position - Pivot
Benjamin Howard. Club: Nottingham Handball Club. Position - Right Wing
Christopher White. Club: Academico De Viseu. Position - Centre Back
Craig McClelland. Club: HV Kras/Volendam. Position - Goalkeeper
Craig Yule. Club: Andebol Clube de Lamego. Position - Left Wing
Francisco Pereira. Club: Füchse Berlin. Position - Right Wing
James Adamson. Club: AGF Århus. Position - Goalkeeper
Jeremy Hirel. Club: Le Chesnay Yvelines. Position - Left Wing
Joseph Trent. Club: Andebol Clube de Lamego. Position - Pivot
Joshua Plumridge. Club: Nottingham Handball Club. Position - Left Back
Olivier Tyler. Club: London GB Handball Club. Position - Pivot
Ran Yonish. Club: Maccabi Tel Aviv. Position - Pivot
Reuben Wardle. Club: Andebol Clube de Lamego. Position - Centre Back
Robert Damianou. Club: Carshalton Titans Handball Club. Position - Right Wing
Sebastian Vellenoweth. Club: HBC Nantes. Position - Centre Back
Sebastien Edgar. Club: Handball Käerjeng. Position - Right Back
Tiago Babb. Club: Povoa Andebol Club. Position - Left Back
William Carter. Club: Elverum Hândball. Position - Pivot
The participating teams of the 2023 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship were drawn into four preliminary round groups:
Competition Schedule
Tuesday 25th April. 16.45: GBR v CUB
Thursday 27th April. 16.45: GBR v GUA
Saturday 29 April | Sunday 30 April |
| Placement round 9-12 | Placement round 9-12 |
09:15 3. Group A - 3. Group B | Pl. 11/12 09:15 L13 - L14 |
11:30 3. Group C - 3. Group D | Pl. 9/10 11:30 W13 - W14 |
Placement round 5-8 | Placement round 5-8 |
13:45 2. Group A - 2. Group B | Pl. 7/8 13:45 L15 - L16 |
16:00 2. Group C - 2. Group D | Pl. 5/6 16:00 W15 - W16 |
| Semi-Finals | Finals |
SF2 18:15 1. Group C - 1. Group D | Pl. 3/4 18:15 LSF1 - LSF2 |
SF1 20:30 1. Group A - 1. Group B | Pl.1/2 20:30 WSF1 - WSF2 |
Matches will be available on the IHF YouTube channel (livestreams and on-demand)
Ricardo Vasconcelos, Head Coach says, “This is a brilliant opportunity to build on the success from Baku and keep developing the squad. With the qualification already guaranteed, we will use this opportunity to test new elements and to consolidate concepts. The first game against Cuba is a decisive game due to the tournament format, and we are looking forward to test ourselves against a very competent team, who are one of the favourites for the competition. We want to keep momentum and push ourselves to maintain a good standard of handball, reflected on good results. Despite not having the pressure to qualify and looking at this competition with more emphasis on the long term development of the squad, our aim is to reach the semi-finals and fight for the medals.”
