History was made on Saturday in Hyderabad, India, when 21-year-old model Opal Suchata Chuangsri was crowned the 72nd Miss World beauty pageant winner.
For the first time in its 74 years of existence, a representative from Thailand won the pageant.
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Opal also won the contest’s multimedia component and topped the contestant app leaderboard with over 2.3 million views.
Ethiopia’s Hasset Dereje was named first runner-up, while Poland’s Maja Klajda emerged 2nd runner-up.
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The Nigerian representative at the competition, Joy Raimi, aka Queen Tiwa, made it to the top 20 finalists.
The competition kicked off on May 7 with 108 contestants, and it was pruned down to 40 quarterfinalists—ten from each continental region: Africa, Americas & Caribbean, Europe, and Asia and Oceania.
From the 40 quarterfinalists, the competition was narrowed down to a top 20, then to a top eight, from which four Continental winners emerged.
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Victory speech
In her first speech after receiving her crown, Queen Suchata thanked everyone for giving her a chance to hold her country with pride and give Thailand its first crown.
“I would like to say that I might be the one who was crowned tonight, but all of the girls that are with me, we are winners. All of us have our purposes and causes we hold in our hearts.
“I hope that all of you will continue to send love and support to not just me but to every girl going on the same journey with me. Thank you so much for sending us so much love and support in India and worldwide. I hope I will make you proud as your new Miss World,” she said.
Crowning the new Miss World, the outgoing Queen, Krystyna Pyszkova of the Czech Republic, said she is entering an excellent chapter filled with opportunity and potential.
“I know that you will be amazing. I can’t wait to see you shine and make your mark. I’ll be here to support you and cheer you on every step of the way,” she noted.
In an interview with NDTV, the new Queen described her victory as one of the best experiences in her life.
“We have met many people here, and they’ve been very kind to us. We have visited so many beautiful places. But sharing this experience with my fellow contestants worldwide has made it even better than ever.
“In the next year, I would love to spend my time going around the world and help those who need help with both my project and other projects,” she said.
Representing Nigeria
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s representative, a 24-year-old University of Port Harcourt graduate, has described her time in the competition as a journey of transformation.
Queen Tiwa, who made it into the Top 20 in the competition, also joined four other African contestants in the semi-finals: Cameroon’s Princesse Issie, Ethiopia’s Hasset Dereje, Namibia’s Selma Kamanya and Tunisia’s Lamis Redissi.
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“I woke up today and burst into tears; tears of appreciation, gratitude, appreciation and victory. What a journey it has been. It’s been a journey of transformation, growth, and constantly pouring into myself,” she wrote about her time in India.
No stranger to pageantry, Queen Tiwa has a line of crowns on her shelf.
In 2021, she won the Miss Port Harcourt City International title.
She then won the 2022 Miss Intercontinental Africa title at the 50th edition in Egypt, beating 76 other contestants.
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