The event at the University of Hertfordshire Sports Village will mark 65th anniversary of the birth of wheelchair fencing as a competitive sport. In 1955 at the International Stoke Mandeville Games in Aylesbury - the forerunner of the Paralympics.

The competition will also be the final event before wheelchair fencers head to the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

"There is no more fitting place to hold one of the most important wheelchair fencing events than Great Britain, where the sport was first showcased to the world," IWAS President Rudi Van Den Abbeele said.

"More than six decades ago the father of the Paralympic Movement, Sir Ludwig Guttmann, recognised its potential for rehabilitation and then helped to build it into a competition. 

"Since then it has transformed from a handful of people fencing in one weapon to a global elite sport in épée, foil and sabre across three athlete classifications."

A total of 150 fencers from 25 countries are expected to take part in the Championships. 

"I am excited about the prospect of celebrating 65 years of wheelchair fencing back where it all began," Pál  Szekeres, IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Executive Committee chairperson, said.

"Of course the sport has come a very long way since those early days. 

"I am looking forward to showing the skills of modern day wheelchair fencers on an international stage again just a few months before fencers head to Tokyo 2020."

The last IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Championships took place in Terni in Italy last year when Russia topped the final medals table with eight golds, three silvers and nine bronzes.