The National Squash Centre (NSC) at Sportcity in Manchester is to host the 2008 World Squash Championships, it has been announced.

A partnership between England Squash, the North West Regional Development Agency and Manchester City Council successfully won the bid to host the championships and will invest more than £600,000 in the event.

Now held annually, the World Squash Championships is the most important event on the squash calendar and will see athletes from 40 countries competing.

UK Sport has announced it will also make a contribution of £152,000 towards the cost of hosting the championships as part of its strategy of attracting world class events to Britain.