STUDENTS from all over the world have been showing off their skills.

They packed into the University of Huddersfield Sports Hall yesterday to kick off International Week.

The sports day involving hundreds of competitors from some 17 countries marked the beginning of the university’s first-ever week of international events.

Teams from countries as far afield as China, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and many European countries took part in basketball, volleyball, football and squash tournaments.

As well as competing against each other, they also took on teams comprised of staff and British students.

The sports day was organised by four European business students as part of their Event Management and Marketing module.

They were Najet Khelifi and Zohra Fellah of France and Miroslava Solarova and Marketa Hejlova of the Czech Republic.

Marketa said: “We wanted to organise a fun day and we are very happy with the number of people taking part in the sports day.

“The last two weeks have been really busy and difficult, having to organise everything but not knowing how many people were going to turn up.”

The students used their marketing skills to promote the event in a variety of ways, including websites, posters, radio, advertising, Facebook and Twitter.

One of the many teams who responded to the challenge was a basketball squad from China, where basketball is a major sport.

Team leader Kai Zho, 20, an engineering student from Shanghai, said: “This is a very good idea. We will play together and have a chance to meet students from different countries.

“There is a party tonight and that will be nice.”

The winning teams in each sport won a trophy, winning team members were presented with medals and all participants received a certificate to mark the occasion.

The sports day ended with a Zumba session followed by a party at the Students’ Union building featuring the Tom Savage Band.

Sponsors included the University’s International Office and Marketing Society, the Students’ Union, Ultralife and Asda.

This week sees a range of events being staged to celebrate Huddersfield University’s inaugural International Week:

Today is the International Food Festival in the main building. The event will feature stalls with culinary offerings from countries including England, France, Scandinavia, Poland, China, India and Nigeria.

Thursday is Excursion Day with foreign students heading out on a coach to Whitby.

Friday is International Debate Day with guest speaker Christina Yan Zhang, International Students’ Officer of the National Union of Students.

She will cover several topical international issues, such as student exchange programmes, tuition fees, visas and the work of the NUS nationally.

Huddersfield University has more than 23,000 students from 130 countries and 1,900 staff.

The international students bring in millions of pounds both to the university and the economy in Huddersfield.