India becomes the first country to win Miss Supranational twice, as competition redefines its concept

 02 December 2016

Srinidhi Shetty, 24, 1.72 m-tall, became the surprising winner of Miss Supranational´s 8th edition. The live televised event was held in Krynica Zdrój on December 2nd. This is India´s second victory in the pageant, following Asha Bhat´s triumph in 2014.

Venezuela´s Valeria Vespoli placed 2nd, followed by Suriname´s Jaleesa Pigot in 3rd place. This is Suriname´s best ever position in a Grand Slam pageant. Ornella Gunesekere of Sri Lanka came next in the 4th position and Hungary´s Korinna Kocsis was 5th.

Among the Top 10 semi-finalists were the representatives of Belarus, Indonesia, Myanmar, Poland and Slovakia.

 The group of Top 25 quarter-finalists also had Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Ukraine and Vietnam.

The continental winners were India (Asia and Oceania), Venezuela (Americas), Hungary (Europe) and Mauritius (Africa).

Change of Concept

Miss Supranational, since its inception in 2009, was born with a different concept focusing on a different type of beauty, more oriented toward the fashion world, and the style of its contestants reflected that.  However in 2016 the organization deciding to scrap that (which made them different) and redirect their brand similar to what other beauty pageants are doing; focusing on the personality of the winners regardless of their height or fashion experience; from now on, Miss Supranational winners will be advocates for Women’s empowerment; they will no longer be chosen based on fashion skills (which means they now want beauty queens and not models).  The age limit of the contestants was also changed, now from 17 to 28 years old.

“Fashion Show” is no more, as interview and questions have more relevance in the new concept.

Congratulations to Srinidhi Shetty, Miss Supranational 2016!

GB photos / Leonardo Rodrigues