Alexander Bachmann will represent Germany at the World Taekwondo Championships ©World Taekwondo

Alexander Bachmann is set to defend his men's 87 kilogram title at the World Taekwondo Championships after Germany announced their squad for next month's competition in Manchester.

Bachmann had become world champion in Muju in 2017 after defeating world number one Vladislav Larin of Russia.

He will compete at Manchester Arena alongside team-mate and 2013 men’s -80 kg champion, Tahir Guelec.

Huseyin Alperen Canan, Jordanis Konstantinidis, Martin Stach and Cem Unlusoy will also represent Germany in the men's event. 

In the women's competition, Oziem Guruz, Ela Aydin, Madeline Folgmann, Anna-Lena Froemming, Celine Schmidt, Alema Hadzic and Lorean Brandl have been selected. 

The US announced they would be bringing Paige McPherson, who took silver in the women’s -67 kg class in 2017. 

Paige McPherson of the United States will compete in the women’s -67 kg class at this year's World Taekwondo Championships ©Getty Images
Paige McPherson of the United States will compete in the women’s -67 kg class at this year's World Taekwondo Championships ©Getty Images

Their other silver medallist in South Korea two years ago, Jackie Galloway of the +73 category, will not be fighting in Manchester.

Madelynn Gorman-Shore was the number one in both -73kg and +73kg, deciding to take the -73kg spot.

The rest of the women's team comprises Monique Rodriguez, Kayla Morales, Anastasija Zolotic, Desirae Rolaff and Ara White.

David Kim, Damian Villa, Alejandro Chang, CJ Nickolas, Thomas Rahimi, Jaysen Ishida, Hanssel Llanos and Jonathan Healy will compete in the men's event. 

The Americans will attend a training camp to prepare for the tournament, which is taking place from May 15 to 19.