Nicol David will defend the title she won in Hong Kong in December

The championships from 20-26 November will have a prize fund of over �65,000, which will be the biggest in the event's history.

Malaysia's Nicol David will defend the title she won for the first time in Hong Kong in December.

The early rounds will be played at the Belfast Boat Club before the competition moves to the Ulster Hall from the last sixteen round onwards.

The staging of the event in Belfast will give world number 10 and Irish number one Madeline Perry a rare chance to compete in a major event in her home country.

Perry reached the quarter-finals of last year's world championships and last week claimed the biggest win of her career when she beat world number three Rachael Grinham in the quarter-finals of the Kuala Lumpur Open.

The championship will be hosted by Irish Squash, in conjunction with Ulster Squash, and its partners the Sports Council for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Events Company and Belfast City Council.

Belfast Lord Mayor Wallace Browne said that world squash officials had been "impressed by our proposed venues".

"It was also significant that they were met by representatives from all the key stakeholders. They left our city confident in the knowledge that Belfast was already preparing for the championships," he said.

World Squash Federation chief executive Christian Leighton said the governing body had been had been "impressed with the city's determination to bring this event to Belfast and its preparedness".

"With every continent having at least one athlete in the world top ten, all eyes will be on Belfast between 20-26 November," said Mr Leighton.