Indian Contestant success in International Competition

The Miss World Pageant

India first was represented in Miss World by Fleur Ezekiel, a local beauty queen. Eve's Weekly Magazine first sent delegates to this pageant, but eventually FEMINA picked up the franchis. In the seventies, the winner of 'Bharat Sundari' would be sent specifically for Miss World, then nearing the end of that decade and the start of the 80's, some hand-picked girls were sent, and then in the 1980's, a Femina Miss India runner-up became the norm. In the late 90's, the system was the same, but official equal weighting of each title was put into the spotlight. India has won Miss World 4 out of the last 9 years!

Year	Name	Placement	Award
1962	Ferial Karim	Semi-Finalist
1966	Reita Faria	Miss World	Best National Costume
1970	Heather Faville	Semi-Finalist
1972	Malathi Basappa	Fourth Runner-Up
1975	Anjana Sood	Semi-Finalist
1978	Kalpana Iyer	Semi-Finalist (11th Place)
1980	Elizabeth Anita Reddi	Semi-Finalist (10th Place)
1987	Manisha Kohli		Best National Costume
1990	Naveeda Mehdi	Top 20
1991	Ritu Singh	Semi-Finalist (8th Place)
1993	Karminder Kaur		Best National Costume
1994	Aishwarya Rai	Miss World	Miss Photogenic; Asia and Oceania's Queen of Beauty
1996	Rani Jeyaraj	Third Runner-Up	Best Evening Gown; Asia and Oceania's Queen of Beauty
1997	Diana Hayden	Miss World	Miss Photogenic; Best in Designer Beachwear; Asia and Oceania's Queen of Beauty
1999	Yukta Mookhey	Miss World	Asia and Oceania's Queen of Beauty
2000	Priyanka Chopra	Miss World	Asia and Oceania's Queen of Beauty
2002	Shruti Sharma	Top 20 Finalist
2003	Ami Vashi	Third Runner-Up	Top 20, Talent Event
2004	Sayali Bhagat	-	Top 20, Top Model Event
2005	Sindhura Gadde	Top 15 Finalist
2006	Natasha Suri	Top 15 Finalist	Second Runner-Up, Best Dress Design and Beach Beauty; Top Ten, Miss World Talent
2007	Sarah-Jane Dias	-	Top 20, Miss World Talent

The Miss Universe Pageant

India was represented in the first Miss Universe Pageant in 1952 by classical dancer and MARRIED mother of one, Indrani Rahman. It was not again until 1964, when FEMINA Magazine held the first Femina Miss India Pageant, that Meher Mistry was chosen out of a pool of 500 girls and sent to the Miss Universe Pageant. Since then, India has only missed one pageant, in 1988, and through the 90's India slowly became a superpower in Miss Universe. With Neha Dhupia in 2002, we see the eleventh consecutive year of an Indian woman placing in the semi-finals of the pageant. In 2003, Nikita Anand broke the streak.

Year	Name	Placement	Award(s)
1966	Yasmin Daji	Third Runner-Up
1972	Roopa Satyam	Semi-Finalist
1973	Farzana Habib	Semi-Finalist
1974	Shailini Dholakia	Semi-Finalist
1978	Alamjeet Chauhan		Best National Costume
1980	Sangeeta Biljani		Best National Costume
1984	Juhi Chawla		Best National Costume
1986	Mehr Jessia	Top Ten in Preliminary Swimsuit
1987	Priyadarshini Pradhan		First Runner-Up (Best National Costume)
1990	Suzanne Sabloak	Semi-Finalist	First Runner-Up (Best National Costume)
1992	Madhu Sapre	Second Runner-Up; Second Place, Semi-Finalist Swimsuit and Eveningwear
1993	Namrata Shirodkar	Finalist; Third Place, Semi-Finalist Interview and Eveningwear
1994	Sushmita Sen	Miss Universe; Second Place, Semi-Finalist Swimsuit ; Third Place, Semi-Finalist Eveningwear
1995	Manpreet Brar	First Runner-Up; Second Place, Semi-Finalist Eveningwear
1996	Sandhya Chib	Semi-Finalist (8th Place)
1997	Nafisa Joseph	Semi-Finalist (10th Place)
1998	Lymaraina D'Souza	Semi-Finalist (7th Place); Second Place, Semi-Finalist Interview
1999	Gul Panag	Semi-Finalist (6th Place); First Place, Semi-Finalist interview
2000	Lara Dutta	Miss Universe; First Place, finalist interview; First Place, Semi-Finalist Swimsuit	Oscar de la Renta Best in Swimsuit; First Runner-Up, Best National Costume
2001	Celina Jaitley	Fourth Runner-Up
2002	Neha Dhupia	Semi-Finalist (9th place)
2004	Tanushree Dutta	Semi-Finalist (Top Ten)	Top Ten, National Costume
2006	Neha Kapur	Semi-Finalist (Top Twenty)
2007	Puja Gupta	Semi-Finalist (Top Ten)

Miss International

India participated in the first Miss International Pageant in 1960 with Iona Pinto, who barely lost because she stopped smiling for a few seconds! Eve's Weekly picked up the franchise in the late 60's and sent their winner to Miss International up until the late 1980's. In the 1990's, Femina chose one of the Miss India finalists if they could. On other occasions, even a Second Runner Up or a semi-finalist would be sent.

Year	Name	Position
1960	Iona Pinto	First Runner-Up
1968	Sumita Sen	Semi-Finalist
1970	Patricia D'Souza	Semi-Finalist
1975	Indira Bredmeyer	Second Runner-Up
1976	Nafisa Ali	Second Runner-Up
1984	Nalanda Bhandar	Semi-Finalist
1987	Erika de Souza	Semi-Finalist
1991	Preeti Mankotia	Semi-Finalist
1993	Pooja Batra	Semi-Finalist
1997	Diya Abraham	First Runner-Up
1998	Shveta Jaishankar	Second Runner-Up
2000	Gayatri Joshi	Semi-Finalist
2001	Kanwal Toor	Semi-Finalist
2003	Shonali Nagrani	First Runner-Up
2004	Mihika Verma	Semi-Finalist
2006	Sonali Sehgal	Semi-Finalist

Miss Asia Pacific

Miss Asia-Pacific is a small, regional competition which has mostly been held in the Philippines. Once a power in it's heyday, in the 1990's the pageant slowly rolled towards it's end. India once sent winners of the "Navy Queen" contest there, and many times a runner-up or finalist. Purchase of the pageant by GMA' in 2000 has breathed some life back into the event, which has seen a resurge in participation and spectacular shows

Year	Name	Position	Award
1968	Annabella Crawford		Miss Talent
1970	Zeenat Aman	Miss Asia Pacific	Miss Photogenic
1973	Tara Anne Fonseca	Miss Asia Pacific
1976	Anna Adrianne Bredemeyer	Second Runner-Up
1977	Marianne De Souza	First Runner-Up
1978	Preeti Rappiker		Best National Costume; Miss Talent
1979	Maureen Mary Lestourgeon	First Runner Up
1981	Meejhabeen Ayub Khan		Miss Talent
1985	Seema Malhotra	Semi-Finalist
1993	Namrata Shirodkar	First Runner Up
1994	Shweta Menon	Semi-Finalist
1995	Ruchita Malhotra	First Runner-Up	Best in Long Gown, Miss Talent
1996	Mini Menon	Semi-Finalist
1997	Divya Chauhan	First Runner Up	Best Evening Gown
2000	Diya Mirza	Miss Asia Pacific	Miss Close-Up Smile and Miss Avon Fashion & Cosmetics
2002	Tina Chhatwal	Second Runner-Up	Mabuhay! Miss Internet
2003	Shonal Rawat	First Runner-Up	Miss Congeniality, Miss Talent, Gandang Ricky Reyes Hair Award, Miss Cream Silk Beautiful Hair and Best in (Filipino costume) Terno

Other Pageants

Queen of the Clubs International
1998	Diandra Sorres		Miss Photogenic
Miss Tourism World
2000	Ritu Garg Soundarya	Semi-Finalist
2001	Payal Rohatgi	Semi-Finalist	Supermodel Miss Tourism World
Miss Tourism International
1994	Barkha Madan	Third Runner-Up
2001	Candice Pinto	Miss Tourism International	Miss Virtual, Miss Fresh Look and Miss Personality
2003	Parul Chaudhury		Miss Congeniality
2005	Shriya Singh	Second Runner-Up
Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International
2004	Amanpreet Wahi	Semi-Finalist
Miss Tourism Intercontinental
2003	Elitra Coelho	Semi-Finalist
2005	Sonal Singh	Winner
Miss Tourism Queen International
2004	Zabina Khan	Miss Tourism Queen Int'l	Miss Disco
2006	Rupali Suri	Semi-Finalist
Miss Model of the World
2004	Amita Hotkar	Top Ten	Best Model
Mrs. World
1995	Nandini Chopra	Semi-Finalist
1999	Kavita Jayesh Chahcha		Miss Congeniality
2000	Sarah Lakdawala	Mrs. World
2001	Jasmine D'Souza	First Runner-Up
Miss World/University
1987	Priyadarshini Pradhan	Miss World/University
2003	Medha Raghunath	Second Runner-Up
Miss Earth
2001	Shamita Singha	Semi-finalist	Best National Costume; Best in Long Gown; Mabuhay, Pageants! Miss Internet; Miss Avon; Miss Lux
2002	Reshmi Ghosh		Second Runner-Up, Best National Costume
2003	Swetha Vijay		Essential Beauty of the Earth
2004	Jyoti Brahmin	Semi-Finalist
2006	Amruta Patki	First Runner-Up	Best in Long Gown
2007	Pooja Chitgopekar	First Runner-Up	Semi-Finalist
Miss Intercontinental
1975	Tina Munim	Second Runner-Up
1978	Elizabeth Anita Reddi	Miss Intercontinental
1997	Lara Dutta	Miss Intercontinental
1999	Anchal Kumar	Semi-Finalist
2001	Koena Mitra	Semi-Finalist
2002	Rakhee Chaudhury	Semi-Finalist
2003	Deepti Gujral	Third Runner-Up
Model of the World
2002	Tora Kashgir		Model of the World Asia
Miss Ambar World
1978	Mala Rai Singhani	Winner	Miss Expressive Eyes and Best National Costume
International Teen Princess
1970	Vani Ganapati	Semi-Finalist	Best Appearance; Miss Personality
1974	Vani Gujral	Winner
Pacific Queen Quest
1972	Prema Narayan	First Runner-Up
1973	Pheroza Cooper	Finalist	Miss Photogenic
1974	Marilyn Pereira	Second Runner-Up

Kalpana Iyer - Finalist and Most Popular Contestant, Miss International Teen 1976

Men's Achievements

Mr. International
1998	Diwaker Pundir	Semi-Finalist
1999	Abhijit Sanyal	Second Runner-Up
2000	Aryan Vaid	Mr. International	Best Talent
2001	Vivan Bathena	Semi-Finalist
2002	Raghun Mukherjee	Mr. International
2003	Rajneesh Duggal	First Runner-Up
Manhunt International
1994	Rajat Bendi	Fourth Runner-Up
1995	Dino Morea	First Runner-Up
1997	Zulfi Syed Ahman	Fourth Runner-Up
1999	John Abraham	First Runner-Up
2001	Rajeev Singh	Manhunt International	Best National Costume; Best Dressed Gentleman
2002	Nitin Singh	Semi-Finalist
2006	Aryan Baruah	Semi-Finalist
2007	Abhimanyu Jain	Fourth Runner-Up
2008	Romeo Gates	Semi-Finalist (7th)	Mr. Internet Popularity
Mr. World
1996	Bikram Saluja	Semi-Finalist
Mr. Intercontinental
1998	Diwaker Pundir	Second Runner-Up
2001	Savio Bruto de Costa	First Runner-Up
2002	Saumik Rao	Semi-Finalist
Male Model of the World
1998	Anshul Mishra	Third Runner-Up
Mr. Tourism International
2002	Jaspal Sehgal		Best National Costume

Worldwide-Indian Achievements
Many women of Indian origin from across the world have competed for and won titles in different countries. Obviously, I do not know them all, buthere is a starter list. In countries like Fiji, Suriname, Guyana, etc. where Indians are such a large part of the population, it is ridiculous to make a list since so many Indian women have been crowned.

Year	Name	Position
1995	Michelle Khan	Miss Trinidad and Tobago in Miss World 1995/Miss Universe 1996; Second Runner-Up, Miss World 1995
1996	Pritpal Kulwant Dhamu	Miss Kenya for Miss World
1997	Una Patel	Miss Zimbabwe for Miss World
1998	Kerishnie Naicker	Miss South Africa for Miss Universe and Miss World; Semi-Finalist, Miss Universe; Fifth Place, Miss World
1998	Andrea Roche (1/2 Indian)	Miss Ireland for Miss Universe ; Semi-Finalist, Miss Universe
2001	Reshma Roopram	Miss Netherlands for Miss Universe
2002	Neelam Verma	Miss Canada for Miss Universe; Semi-Finalist, Miss Universe
2004	Megha Nabe	Miss USA for Miss Tourism International 2004; Winner, Miss Tourism Int'l 2004
2005	Dhiveja Sundrum	Miss South Africa for Miss World; Semi-Finalist, Miss World
2006	Sabrina Houssami (1/2 Indian)	Miss Australia for Miss World; Second Runner-Up, Miss World
2006	Colleen Perreira	Miss Singapore for Miss World
2007	Valene Maharaj	Miss Trinidad & Tobago for Miss World; Top Five, Miss World
2008	Tansey Coetzee	Miss South Africa for Miss Universe/World; Top 15, Miss Universe
American
1989	Somali Singh	Miss District of Columbia USA
1990	Asha Pardasani	West Virginia's Junior Miss
1991	Simmi Prasad	Michigan's Junior Miss
1993	Shakeela Gajadha	Miss Florida USA
1994	Collie Pandit	Miss Iowa USA
1994	Deepa Gupta	Illinois' Junior Miss
1994	Sangeeta K. Grewal	Kansas' Junior Miss
1995	Sruti Ranjami Nataraja	Maryland's Junior Miss
1996	Sneha E. Jacob	Rhode Island's Junior Miss
1996	Aparna Vijayaraghavan	Oregon's Junior Miss and finalist, America's Junior Miss
1997	Sonya Gavankar	Miss District of Columbia
1997	Alinas Das	Louisiana's Junior Miss and finalist America's Junior Miss
1999	Pratima Yarlagadda	Miss Indiana USA and semi-finalist, Miss USA 1999
1999	Ashifa Sarkar	Louisiana's Junior Miss and finalist, America's Junior Miss
2000	Ulrica Udani	Miss New Jersey Teen USA
2000	Coonoor Behal	Ohio's Junior Miss
2001	Rosalyn Menon	Miss Pennsylvania and semi-finalist, Miss America
2001	Reena Mehta	Rhode Island's Junior Miss
2002	Glovindria Burgess	Miss District of Columbia Teen USA
2002	Shoha Kirti Parekh	Miss Delaware
2002	Nina Vasan	West Virginia's Junior Miss
2002	Kosha Shah	California's Junior Miss
2003	Natasha Prakash	Miss District of Columbia Teen USA
2004	Veena Goel	Miss California; Fourth Runner-Up and Talent Winner, Miss America
2004	Ruchika Sharma	Miss Belgium Earth
2004	Courtni Hall	Miss Indiana Teen USA
2004	Sopen Shah	Wisconsin's Junior Miss And Top Five, America's Junior Miss
2005	Veena Goel	Miss California and Fourth Runner-Up, Miss America

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