The move to trial the groups on their programme has been hailed by the governing body as a "huge development".

The first competition to feature the new groups will be the 2017 Inas World Table Tennis Championships in Hradec Kralove in the Czech Republic, due to take place between October 21 and 29.

"It means we are now giving even more athletes with intellectual impairments the chance to reach their sporting bests," a statement from Inas said.

The announcement comes after the Inas approved "substantial" governance changes at their General Assembly in Brisbane earlier this year.

This included the enhancement of the five Federation’s five continental bodies, which will also have their work become more accountable.

New roles were added to the Inas Board which saw three independent positions created to be filled by representatives from outside the organisation in order to bring in different skills and experiences.

Along with this, the membership structure was also revised.

France’s Marc Truffaut was elected Inas President at the meeting, succeeding Brazilian Amaury Russo, who withdrew prior to the vote due to personal reasons.

New faces on the Board were voted in with Egyptian Amal Mobadda, Mexico's Emma De La Cruz, Emma Linnea Bjorndahl of Sweden and Patrick Chan from Hong Kong becoming members-at-large for Inas.

Robyn Smith of Australia and the United States' Barry Holman were re-elected as vice-president and secretary general respectively.

The other existing Board members who were voted back into positions were Fausto Pereira of Portugal and Thailand's Paul Charnvit, who are members-at-large.