The event will take place at the Suhl-Friedberg Shooting Centre, which also held the 2007 IPC Shooting European Championships, from July 17 until 26, welcoming around 300 athletes from 50 nations to compete in 14 individual and 14 team events.

The contract was signed by IPC chief executive Xavier Gonzalez and Dr. Karl Quade, vice-president of the German National Paralympic Committee (NPC) today at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games Chef de Mission seminar.

"We are delighted that the 2014 IPC Shooting World Championships will take place in Suhl, at a venue that successfully staged the 2007 IPC Shooting European Championships." said Gonzalez

"Following the huge success of London 2012 we are seeing more and more quality bids for our major Championships, and we are very excited about what will take place next year.

"For athletes it is important that they get the opportunity to compete in high level competitions, in addition to the existing World Cups.

"Between now and Rio 2016 we are trying to build a pathway of events and this announcement is the latest addition to this growing sporting calendar."

The 2014 IPC World Shooting Championships in Suhl will be the first major international event open to athletes of all nationalities since London 2012

Suhl is located in Thuringia in the centre of the country, which was formerly part of East Germany before the reunification in 1990.

The East German national shooting arena was located at Suhl, and hosted many top-level competitions, including the 1986 World Championships.

"We are delighted about the trust that the IPC are putting in us to organise the World Championships," said Quade.

"We are looking forward to welcoming the world's best athletes to Suhl.

"Together with the city of Suhl and the state of Thüringen we are confident we will host a successful Championships."

These World Championships will be the first to feature the decimal scoring system, which has been introduced to reduce the likelihood of ties and enhance excitement in the sport.

The Championships will also feature the new finals format agreed earlier this year by the IPC Governing Board.

The new finals format will see all athletes start from zero, rather than carrying through their qualification score, and the lowest-ranked competitors will be eliminated throughout the final until the final two athletes are left in a "shoot-off" scenario to determine who takes the gold medal.

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