EILAT, ISRAEL — Miss India Harnaaz Sandhu, 21, took home the crown in the Miss Universe 2021 competition, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021 (Monday, December 13th PH time), at Universe Dome, Eilat, Israel.
Beating out the runners-up Miss Paraguay and Miss South Africa, the Miss Universe 2021 Miss India made India proud as she became the third woman to bring her country the most-coveted Miss Universe crown so far; Sushmita Sen in 1994 held in the Philippines, and Lara Dutta in 2000 held in Cyprus.
During the top 5 question-and-answer phase, Miss India was asked what she would do to convince people to take climate change seriously. With eloquence, she said she felt sad to see nature going through a lot of problems and also felt that this is the time to take action and talk less. “Because each action could either kill or save nature,” Harnaaz continued as she finally pointed out “prevent and protect” is better than “repent and repair.”
Meanwhile, in her final statement for the top 3, she said the biggest pressure the youth of today is facing is believing in themselves. Harnaaz further said, “To know that you are unique and that what makes you beautiful…” She also said to speak out and be the voice of their own.
The Miss Universe 2021 winner’s favorite actor is Priyanka Chopra, the Miss World 2000 winner, and in her spare time, she enjoys yoga, dancing, cooking, horse riding, and playing chess along with her friends. Harnaaz believes in the saying. “Great things happen to those who don’t stop believing, trying, learning, and being grateful.”
Harnaaz Sandhu, India’s representative in the 2021 Miss Universe, also won the title Miss Diva Universe in October 2021.
The 70th annual Miss Universe competition was hosted by Steve Harvey, joined by 80 delegates, and composed of 9 personalities to sit on the selection committee, in which Filipino multi-awarded actress and host Marian Rivera was one of the committee members.
However, this 70th Miss Universe held in Israel was marred by political row controversies prompting a few countries to withdraw from sending their delegates to the competition. Barbados, Belize, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Uruguay were countries that withdraw from the pageant. Yet, Miss South Africa, the 2nd Runner-up, joined the competition despite her country’s withdrawal and call to boycott the event. RQJ
Miss Universe 2021 Finals
Miss Universe 2021 — Miss India
1st Runner-up — Miss Paraguay
2nd Runner-up — Miss South Africa
Top 3
- Miss South Africa
- Miss India
- Miss Paraguay
Top 5
- Miss India
- Miss South Africa
- Miss Paraguay
- Miss Colombia
- Miss Philippines
Top 10
- Miss Paraguay
- Miss Puerto Rico
- Miss United States
- Miss India
- Miss South Africa
- Miss Bahamas
- Miss Philipppines
- Miss France
- Miss Colombia
- Miss Aruba
Top 16
- Miss France — Clemence Botino
- Miss Colombia — Valeria Maria Ayos Bossa
- Miss Singapore — Nandita Banna
- Miss Panama — Brenda Smith Lezama
- Miss Puerto Rico — Michelle Marie Colon Ramirez
- Miss Bahamas — Chantel O’Brian
- Miss Japan — Juri Watanabe
- Miss Great Britain — Emma Collingridge
- Miss United States — Elle Smith
- Miss India — Harnaaz Sandhu
- Miss Vietnam — Nguyen Huynh Kim Duyen
- Miss Aruba — Thessaly Zimmerman
- Miss Paraguay — Nadia Ferreira
- Miss Philippines — Beatrice Luigi Gomez
- Miss Venezuela — Luiseth Emiliana Materan Bolaño
- Miss South Africa — Lalela Lali Mswane
Miss Universe 2021 Special Awardees
Best National Costume — Miss Nigeria Maristella Okpala
Spirit of Carnival Award — Miss Bahamas Chantel O’Brian
Social Impact Award — Miss Chile Antonia Figueroa
Have a quick look at Miss India during her bouts at the 70th annual Miss Universe 2021 competition. Some photos are taken from Miss India’s Instagram harnaazsandhu_03.
Since 2011, Regel Javines has been writing online, sharing news and analysis on a range of noteworthy and urgent social issues. He completed his bachelor’s degree in office administration at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP)—Taguig Campus, where he also served as editor-in-chief of the official school newspaper. See Regel’s published articles here.