Boccia World Championships 2018 to be held in Liverpool

Britain's David Smith claimed individual gold at Rio 2016

Liverpool has been named as the host of the 2018 Boccia World Championships in August next year.

The event, the biggest on the boccia calendar outside of the Paralympics, will run between 9 and 19 August at the Exhibition Centre Liverpool.

Britain's David Smith, who won gold at the Rio 2016 Paralympics and is a two-time individual world champion, will be one of the 192 competitors.

"I'm so excited that the Worlds will be held in the UK," he said.

"Performing in front of a home crowd in London 2012 was one of the finest moments of my career."

Boccia is a precision ball sport that is played by people with cerebral palsy and other impairments that affect motor skills