Malaysian model and teacher Taanusiya Chetty takes third place at Miss World 2026

Taanusiya Chetty has given Malaysia its strongest Miss World result in 28 years, finishing third in the 2026 final in Nha Trang, Vietnam. The 26-year-old was named second runner-up, matching Lina Teoh’s third-place finish in 1998.

Chetty, known affectionately as Taanu, placed behind winner Joheirry Mola Dominguez of the Dominican Republic and first runner-up Elisabeth Reynes Alabern of Spain. She also won the Beauty With A Purpose award, one of the pageant’s major recognitions for contestants’ community projects and advocacy work. The award helped secure her place in the Top Six.

“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,” Chetty told Bernama after the competition.

According to her Miss World profile, Chetty works as a secondary school English teacher, model and activist. Her advocacy focuses on education and community development. She has participated in Project Lestari Laut, an outreach initiative involving educational and health-awareness activities for Orang Asli children in rural parts of Malaysia.

Chetty spent more than 19 months preparing for the competition. She supported Malaysian fashion designers, who prepared about 100 outfits for her pageant journey. Fluent in English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil, she used all four languages during the Head-to-Head Challenge. For the talent segment, she performed tarian silat, the dance-like performance element of traditional Malay martial arts, after several months of training.

“

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.