Source: CNA Lifestyle
Malaysia’s Taanusiya Chetty has finished third at Miss World 2026, matching the country’s best-ever result at the international beauty pageant.
The 26-year-old was named second runner-up at the final in Nha Trang, Vietnam, on Saturday (Sep 5), alongside winner Joheirry Mola Dominguez of the Dominican Republic and first runner-up Elisabeth Reynes Alabern of Spain.
Taanusiya’s achievement matches the record set by Lina Teoh, who also finished third at Miss World 1998. The two women are now Malaysia’s best-performing contestants in the history of the pageant.
Speaking to Bernama after the competition, Taanusiya, affectionately known as Taanu, thanked Malaysians for their support.
“Twenty-eight years ago, we also won second runner-up. After so long, this is another history for our country. Thank you, Malaysia, for supporting and believing in me,” she said.
Taanusiya also won the Beauty With A Purpose award, one of Miss World’s major recognitions for contestants’ community projects and advocacy work. Her win in the segment helped secure her place in the Top Six.
According to her Miss World profile, Taanusiya is a secondary school English teacher, model and activist. Her advocacy work focuses on education and community development. She has also been involved in Project Lestari Laut, an outreach initiative that has brought educational and health-awareness activities to Orang Asli children in rural parts of Malaysia.
Taanusiya spent over 19 months preparing for Miss World 2026 and said before the competition that the experience had helped shape her into a more resilient representative of Malaysia, according to The Star. She has also been vocal about supporting Malaysian fashion designers, who prepared around 100 outfits for her pageant journey.
For the talent segment, Taanusiya showcased tarian silat, the dance-like performance aspect of the traditional Malay martial art, after several months of training. Fluent in Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil, she also drew attention when, at the close of her speech in the Head-to-Head Challenge segment, she spoke in all four languages.
Before leaving for the finals in Vietnam, Taanusiya told The Star her Miss World journey was also about showing her students that they could pursue their ambitions.
“I know that if I come back with the crown, they will also be motivated to dream big and chase after their goals,” she said.
