India has won many Miss World crowns, but the last win was in the year 2000.  The closest India came to win again was in the year 2008 when Parvathy Omanakuttan finished second in Miss World 2008.  Parvathy was visibly disappointed with the results.  She has spoken about the matter a couple of times after the finals.  Even today many fans of Parvathy believe that she deserved the Miss World title instead of Russia’s Ksenia Sukhinova.  Let us examine both sides of the coin before trying to come to a conclusion.

Parvathy Omanakuttan was not one of the best faces of the competition even when she participated in Miss India.  She won because of her impressive personality.  Her body was in great form and her confidence levels were always high.  She transformed herself by the time she entered Miss World.  In Miss World 2008, she was never among the to favorites to win.  Yet Parvathy gave a good fight.  She was 2nd runner-up in Top Model contest which Ksenia Sukhinova won.  She was Top 10 finalist in Beach Beauty event which Mexico won.  The interview scores were not revealed, but there are good chances that Parvathy may have topped the round.  In the finals, she looked amazing in a beautiful white gown and presented herself with finesse and class during the entire show.  In the last round, the finalists were asked generic questions revolving the Miss World pageant.  Parvathy’s answer was downright impressive!  Her confidence, diction, sincerity – she was just the best!  She was disappointed when she didn’t win.

On the other hand, Ksenia Sukhinova was touted as a future international winner the moment she won Miss Russia.  Her serene beauty and harmony in the looks were just too attractive to be ignored.  She was supposed to participate in Miss Universe, but couldn’t go due to studies.  In Miss World, she easily made it to the Top 3 of Beach Beauty and won Top Model.  Her candid pictures from the pageant were so good, you can’t differentiate them from filtered ones!  In the finals, she wore a gorgeous blue gown and looked every inch a Goddess.  Her speaking skills were not particularly strong unlike Parvathy, but she gave a decent answer in the final round.  Her physical beauty was too overwhelming to be ignored.

So was Parvathy Omanakuttan robbed?  Now we need to understand here that Miss World never announced that the winner will be chosen based on answer in the final round.  The final round can help the judges become clearer about their choices, but it was never deemed as the whole and sole criteria for selection of winner.  It is not surprising that Ksenia won the vote of the judges.  She may not be a unanimous choice (or she may be), but she is too beautiful and overall a great package for Miss World title.  Some say Parvathy bloomed a lot after Miss World (which is true) unlike Ksenia, but then the winner was supposed to be the one who was best THAT night. And Ksenia is still beautiful, just like she was in 2008. 🙂

Picture Credits:

1. Miss World Official Website

2. Pages of Ksenia & Parvathy on Facebook