Rescheduled wheelchair fencing Asian, youth World Championships confirmed

The two competitions will be hosted together in Thailand as before, from 22-27 April 2021 at the Ambassador City Jomtien complex just outside of Pattaya.

The original Championships were due to take place in Nakhon Ratchasima in December 2020 at the IWAS World Games, but were postponed due to COVID-19.

Rudi Van Den Abbeele, IWAS President, said: “We are happy to announce that Thailand will stage these two important competitions as originally planned, and are confident that they will be exceptional events.

“The new venue is impressive and will provide a great stage for athletes to grab some of the remaining qualification points for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, as well as a platform for new faces to emerge.”

The Ambassador City Jomtien is a hotel and convention centre located in the beachside resort of Na Jomtien, just 3km away from Pattaya.  Pattaya is on the east coast of Thailand and is a vibrant city known for its cultural monuments as well as entertainment.

Action will get underway with the first events of the Asian Championships on 22 April before the under 17 and under 23 Worlds join the action on 24-26 April.

The Asian Champs will conclude on 27 April and will be a qualifier for Tokyo 2020. It joins other regional Championships and one World Cup scheduled for 2021, all of which offer fencers the chance to book their Paralympic ticket.

The IWAS Wheelchair Fencing World Cup will take place from 24-28 February in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and will be immediately followed by the Americas Championships which run until 3 March.

The European Championships will conclude the road to Tokyo 2020 in Eger, Hungary, from 14-17 May.

All Paralympic qualifiers were postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then included in the revised qualification pathway. IWAS will continue to monitor developments around the world with athlete health and safety the main priority.