The $300,000 (£188,000/€229,000) event, the second richest in the sport's history, will take place at the Qatari capital's Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex from December 7 until 14. 

The decision to award Doha the events follows the announcement earlier this month that the city had been awarded the 2014 World Short Course Swimming Championships and comes three days after it launched its international campaign to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics with a presentation to the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) General Assembly here.

The squash event joins a portfolio of major events that also already includes the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 World Handball Championships.

In a neat piece of synergy, squash is also bidding to be part of the Olympic programme and, if successful, would make its debut at the Games in 2020.

Qatar will be hosting the event formerly known as the "World Open" for the third time, having previously staged the premier Championship on the PSA World Tour in 1998 and 2004.

Last year's event was held in Rotterdam and won by Britain's Nick Matthew (pictured).


"We are delighted to be able to confirm that Qatar will host the 2012 PSA World Championship," said Lee Beachill, the chief operating officer of the Professional Squash Association (PSA).

"We have been in discussions with the Qatar Squash Federation (QSF) for several months and it was the event dates that took some extra time to confirm - but we are thrilled to finally confirm that our flagship event will once again be going to Qatar.

Doha is already scheduled to host this year's World Squash Federation's men and women's World Junior Individual and Team Championships in July.

"QSF have been a huge support to PSA over many years, hosting smaller Challenger events as well as their annual World Series event, the Qatar Classic," said Beachill.

The change in the title of the event is designed to make it clear how prestigious the event is. 

"The winner is the world champion - so we decided to drop 'Open' and replace it with 'Championship' for clarity," said Beachill.

"Most other sports also have a World Championship - we feel it's much more understandable."

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April 2012: Doha awarded 2014 World Short Course Swimming Championships