By Mike Burnett BBC Sport in Manchester

Great Britain clinched a bronze medal at the Athens Paralympics

The Visa Paralympic World Cup has got off to a promising start before it has even begun after the organisers announced impressive ticket sales.

The inaugural event in Manchester starts on Thursday with wheelchair basketball guaranteed full houses.

"The interest has been considerable and I've been pleased about that," said head of media Steve Chisholm.

"Basketball is sold out on the four days, but there is a chance to turn up and watch Sunday's track and field."

The four-day invitational event will feature over 350 of the world's top disabled athletes taking part in athletics, basketball, track cycling and swimming.

International Paralympic Committee chief executive officer Xavier Gonzales believes the World Cup can bridge the gap between last year's Paralympics in Greece and the Games in 2008 in Beijing.

"We have between 300-400 events on the sports calendar each year but we are really missing some high profile events," he said.

"We're trying to create as many opportunities as possible to build on the media interest we had in Athens.

"We had more than two billion spectators for the Games but we really need to build up and create opportunities like this one."

Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc also believes the athletes will feel the benefits.

"I believe it's going to help create a momentum from one Paralympics to another," said the five-time gold medallist.

"In some Paralympics sports it can be hard for athletes to keep up a high level of performance between Games, so I think this event will help that."