Hirano became the youngest winner of the annual tournament at the age of 16, when she beat Taiwan’s Cheng I-ching in the final.

She became the first non-Chinese player to win the women’s title, since the competition began back in 1996.

It followed the qualified Chinese players withdrawing from the tournament.

Hirano will return to the tournament at sixth in the world rankings, while she is seeded fourth.

China are set to be represented at this year’s event, with Asia Cup champion Zhu Yuling named as the top seed.

She will be joined by team-mate Liu Shiwen, who replaced world champion Ding Ning in the line-up.

Ding withdraw from the competition due to her physical condition.

Liu will be the tournament second seed, with Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa the third highest player.

The World Cup will start with the ninth to 20^th seed players competing in a group stage, with the top two players advancing from each group.

They will join the top eight seeds in the second stage, where a knock-out system will begin to ultimately decide the winner.

Competition will be held until Sunday (October 9).

It is the first time Canada has staged the Women’s World Cup, with the Pan Am Centre serving as the venue.

 A total of 16 nations are taking part in the 20-player competition.