The  schedule for the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) Powerchair Hockey European Championships in The Netherlands has been officially announced.

The Championships are due to take place in the Dutch Province of De Rijp in North Holland between July 11 and 18. 

The event will officially begin at the Opening Ceremony on July 13 at the Sporthal De Oosterven at 6.30pm

The opening match of the competition, which will follow Opening Ceremony, will see Switzerland take to the court against the hosts, who are the world and reigning European champions.

The draw for the tournament had been held in April at the Via Vittorio Veneto in Besnate, during an Italian Powerchair Hockey League match between the Skorpions Varese and Leoni Sicani.

The Netherlands and Belgium, the top two seeds, were kept apart in Group A and Group B.

The Netherlands will face Germany, Spain and Switzerland.

Belgium will take on Denmark, Finland and Italy.

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The tournament had originally been due to take place in Spanish city Alcobendas but they pulled out in February. 

It was claimed that organisational issues, communication misunderstanding and political issues had led to the withdrawal.

The Netherlands will be seeking to defend the title they claimed in 2012, when they defeated Belgium in the final.

Under its former name, electric wheelchair hockey, powerchair hockey was one of nine new sports or disciplines to apply for inclusion at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, only to fail to make it through to the final stage.

It was eliminated along with powerchair football, 3x3 intellectually impaired basketball, amputee football, one person multi-hull sailing, blind match racing sailing and 3-on-3 wheelchair basketball.

Only badminton and taekwondo were ultimately approved by the International Paralympic Committee Governing Board.

To see the full schedule click here