Basel will become the first city to jointly host the Badminton and Para-Badminton World Championships ©BWF

Basel will become the first city to jointly host the Badminton and Para Badminton World Championships after it was awarded the 2019 edition of the Para event.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) confirmed today that the two tournaments will be staged simultaneously for the first time.

The Swiss city beat off competition from Japan's capital Tokyo to land the 2019 Para Badminton World Championships in a vote which was delayed by the BWF Council to allow "further discussions".

The event will be the last held in the sport before Para Badminton makes its Paralympic Games debut at Tokyo 2020.

Basel's St. Jakobshalle, which has a capacity of 9,000, is due to stage the two competitions.

BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer, also a member of the International Olympic Committee, hailed the historic decision to stage the events at the same time.

"This is a momentous occasion for BWF and Swiss Badminton – and indeed for the development of our sport and our athletes; bringing able-bodied athletes and athletes with impairments together to showcase their talents under the same roof with their World Championships being held at the same time," he said.

"The spectacle of two World Championships being jointly staged, will propel this philosophy to a unique level."

The events will be held at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel ©Wikipedia
The events will be held at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel ©Wikipedia

The idea to hold both events simultaneously was raised by Swiss Badminton as part of their successful bid for the 2019 World Championships.

"It will be something special and amazing to see and we must congratulate Swiss Badminton on their innovative and ambitious thinking," said Høyer. 

"They have convinced us – the BWF Council – that they can deliver these tournaments, to world-class standards together, and we look forward to this historic occasion.

“It will surely raise the bar for hosting premier sporting events.”

The announcement comes on the eve of the 2017 Para-Badminton World Championships in Ulsan in South Korea.

The event at the Dongchun Gymnasium begins tomorrow and is due to conclude on Sunday (November 26).

Around 270 athletes will compete over 22 medal events.

There will be 14 medal events in badminton at the 2020 Paralympic Games.

Kim Jung-jun, the world number one in the men’s WH2 singles, will be among the South Korean players hoping to secure gold on home soil.

Kyung Hoon-kim could be his main challenger in the classification as he has also entered the tournament.