The ITTF has announced that the Slovenian towns of Celje and Lasko will host the 2018 World Para Table Tennis Championships ©ITTF

Slovenian towns of Celje and Lasko have been announced as hosts of the 2018 World Para Table Tennis Championships.

The tournament is due to take place between October 15 and 21 next year and will be the first world title tournament for individual Para table tennis events since Rio 2016. 

An estimated 330 players are expected to travel to Slovenia to compete for titles in 21 medal events.

Competition will take place at the Zlatorog Arena in Celje and Thermana Lasko in Lasko will accommodate athletes.

The Championships, which started in 1990 in Assen in The Netherlands, were held once every four years featuring both team and individual events, with its last edition in Beijing in 2014.

The tournament has now been restructured, however, to feature team events in odd years and individual events in even years.

"The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is very pleased that the 2018 World Para Table Tennis Championships will be held in Slovenia," said ITTF President Thomas Weikert.

"Slovenia has done a fantastic job in organising the Slovenia Open and other Para table tennis events in the past, and I am sure they will continue to impress us at the World Para Table Tennis Championships next year."

Natalia Partyka will be aiming to win a fourth world title next year ©Getty Images
Natalia Partyka will be aiming to win a fourth world title next year ©Getty Images

Four-time Paralympic champion Natalia Partyka of Poland will be looking to make more history in her class 10 category.

She will be chasing a fourth World Championships title in Slovenia after missing out on the World Para Table Tennis Team Championships earlier this year in Slovakia.

"For the first time ever, Slovenia will be hosting World Para Table Tennis Championship in 2018," Damijan Lazar, President of the Slovenian National Paralympic Committee, said. 

"The allocation of the organisation of such a major event is a result of many successfully executed international table tennis competitions, taking place in Lasko every year.

"Earlier in May this year, we hosted the Slovenia Open for the 14th time, and will host the European Para Table Tennis Championships in October, and then an even bigger event, which is the World Championships for individuals in 2018.

"With some challenges and adaptions, specific for hosting the disabled, we are confident that we will once again set the bar of organisation to unreachable heights for a few years to come."