The Thai team also includes Natee Kattancharoen and Ekkathet Ket-Iam, who combined with Wiradech to help the Kingdom clinch a bronze medal in the men's sabre team at the Asian Games in Doha.

The event is a tune-up for the Beijing Olympic Games next year as China are fielding their 2006 world champion team.

The two-day meet has also drawn elite fencers from Japan, England, South Korea, the Philippines, Russia, Brazil, the United States, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, India, Poland, Taiwan, Germany, Spain and Thailand.

The country has staged the event twice before - the first time in 2003 and the second in 2004.

The Amateur Fencing Association of Thailand has plans to raise the officiating standards of the competition by appointing European referees.