Wheelchair fencing calendar announced for 2022

Featuring regional Championships in Asia, the Americas and Europe as well as five World Cups, the list of events will see fencers compete in Italy, Thailand, Brazil, Poland, Hungary and China.

First-up will be a World Cup in Pisa, Italy, from 17-20 March. A mainstay of the wheelchair fencing calendar, the competition also takes place in the year before the World Championships head to Italy in 2023.

The following month the roadshow will land in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 14-17 April ahead of a move to Asia in May. Thailand will get the chance to host its first major wheelchair fencing competition after the cancellation of the 2021 Asian Championships. A World Cup will be staged from 12-15 May.

The familiar surroundings of Warsaw, Poland, then plays host to the fourth World Cup competition from 7-10 July.

Afterwards fencers will get a break to prepare for the first regional Championships of the year. The Asian Championships will be held as part of the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China, in October.

Later that month Sao Paulo, Brazil, will host the Americas Championships from 20-23 October.

Hungarian fencing fans can then enjoy the final World Cup of the year in Eger from 16-20 November.

Rounding-off the calendar will be the European Championships as Poland once again prepares to host some of the world’s best fencers in Krakow from 29 November – 4 December.

Pal Szekeres, Chair of the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Executive Committee, said: “After the uncertainty of the last two years, it is an absolute joy to be in a position to announce a full and exciting calendar for 2022.

“As the world slowly adjusts to a new reality, we look forward with hope and optimism to the future as we prepare to stage five World Cups and three regional Championships in some fantastic locations.

“Our work with all the organisers will continue to ensure that everyone remains safe, but most of all to bring wheelchair fencing back where it belongs: in the spotlight and to fans around the world.”

Earlier in 2021, IWAS Wheelchair Fencing announced that regional competitions scheduled for this year would be delayed to December. However, due to ongoing uncertainty around travel for teams, the sport delayed the Championships to 2022. As these events were originally postponed from 2020, the cycle will return to normal in 2022, and in 2023 with the World Championships in Terni, Italy.

Fans and athletes can still look forward to a World Cup in Pisa from 18-21 November to round off the Paralympic year.

*Classification will take place at least one day before competition starts.