Belgrade, 1 July (AKI) – The 25th World University Games opened in Belgrade on Wednesday, with a ceremony attended by some 9,000 participants from 140 countries, who will compete against each other over the next twelve days in 15 sports. The first games were held in Turin, Italy, in 1959 with 1,400 participants from 43 countries.

The steep increase in the number of participants and countries taking part since the games began attest to their growing popularity, organisers said. The next games will be hosted by China in 2011.

The games are modelled on the Olympic Games and are held every two years, drawing sportsmen and women aged between 17 and 28 years of age, who must be university students.

Football, basketball, athletics, water polo, tennis, handball, gymnastics and swimming are among the sports in which the young athletes will compete.