Members of the Executive Committee and General Assembly gathered to see a number of local cultural performances followed by the presentation of awards.

Completing the night's ceremony was the Best Male and Female Athletes of the Year categories.

Belgium's Thomas van der Plaetsen, the Kazan 2013 and Gwangju 2015 decathlon champion, collected the men's prize.

The women's award was handed to Brazilian futsal player Valerie Schmidt.

Other notable winners included Akademicki Zwiazek Sportowy of Poland, who won the Best National University Sports Federation title.

The Korean National Sport University in Seoul was named Best University.

The International Orienteering Federation was handed the prize of Best International Sports Federation with its President Leho Haldna here to collect the award.

During the Gala, a number of musical and artistic performances took place.

This included the Taipei Chinese Academy Orchestra, who played in the prior reception, while U-Theatre, acapella group Guess What, the Taiwan Acrobatic Troupe and Miling'an musical theatre company took to the theatre's stage throughout the evening.

Other prizes handed out saw Ukraine's Valentyn Gavrylko given the Master FISU Special Award and the World University Orienteering Championships in Miskolc in Hungary named Best FISU Championship.

Taipei 2017 begins tomorrow with the Opening Ceremony, with around 12,000 people expected at Taipei Stadium.

A total of 141 nations are due to compete in all.

Competition is scheduled to take place until August 30, with the Universiade set to be the biggest sporting event that Taiwan has ever hosted.

It will feature 21 sports and be held in venues in Taipei, Keelung, New Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu.