# Miss Grand International 2015

Miss Grand International 2015 was the third edition of the Miss Grand International pageant, held on 25 October 2015 at the Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok, Thailand. Candidates from seventy-seven countries and territories competed for the title, of whom a 20-year-old Dominican American from Rhode Island representing Dominican Republic, Anea Garcia, was announced as the winner and received a cash prize of 40,000 USD as a reward. Meanwhile, the candidates from Miss Grand Australia, Miss Grand India, the Miss Grand Philippines, and Miss Grand Thailand were named the runners-up. However, due to the inability to fulfill the agreement, the original winner from the Dominican Republic was later replaced by the first vice-miss, Claire Parker [ast] of Australia, in early 2016.
The pageant's grand final round was broadcast via the Channel 7 and the pageant official website, with a Thai television personality, Matthew Deane and Miss Grand International 2014 Daryanne Lees, as the event's MCs.
Initially, ninety-one contestants confirmed their participation, but only eighty-five candidates literally entered the tournament. However, some of the entering candidates later withdrew during the pageant camp, such as the representatives of Kurdistan and Russia.

## Background
### Date and venue

In the press conference of the national pageant Miss Grand Thailand 2015 [th] held at the Central World Ratchaprasong on 23 March 2015, in addition to releasing the national pageant details, the pageant president Nawat Itsaragrisil also stated that the third edition of Miss Grand International was scheduled for 25 October 2015, at the Indoor Stadium Huamark, Bangkok, Thailand. The international pageant schedule was later revealed at the press release held after the arriving of the contestants on 7 October 2015, at Eden 1 Park, Central World Ratchaprasong.
As in its previous two editions, the pageant consisted of four main events organized in three different cities from October 8–25, including the swimsuit competition held on 11 October at the Kacha Resort, Ko Chang, Trat province; the national costume contest held on 17 October at the King Rama II Memorial Park, Samut Songkhram Province; and the preliminary and final rounds in Bangkok at the Indoor Stadium Huamark on 23 and 25 October.

### Selection of participants

Of all seventy-seven participating delegates, only ten were elected through the Miss Grand national pageants, including the representatives of Albania, Cambodia, England, Japan, Namibia, Nigeria, Scotland, South Africa, Thailand, and Wales, while another candidate who was also elected through the Miss Grand national contest, Dardanie Thaqi of Kosovo, did not enter the international pageant for undisclosed reasons. Three countries send their main other national pageant winners to participate, including Shadi Osmani from Miss Iran, Sarah Mercieca from Miss Malta, and Aracely Azar from Rostro de México.
The remaining candidates were either appointed without participating in national pageants or being runners-up in the other 2015 national pageants, such as Vartika Singh of India who was named Miss Grand India after finishing as the second runner-up in Femina Miss India 2015.

## Results
### Placements

| Placement | Contestant |
| Miss Grand International 2015 | Dominican Republic – Anea García (Dethroned) |
| 1st runner-up | Australia – Claire Parker [ast] (Assumed) |
| 2nd runner-up | India – Vartika Singh |
| 3rd runner-up | Philippines – Parul Shah |
| 4th runner-up | Thailand – Rattikorn Kunsom |
| Top 10 | Brazil – Paula Gomes  Costa Rica – Mariela Aparicio  Japan – Ayaka Tanaka  Spain – Andrea de Cozar  Sri Lanka – Ornella Gunesekere § |
| Top 20 | Angola – Meriam Kaxuxwena  Czech Republic – Taťána Makarenko  France – Eline Lamboley  Mexico – Aracely Azar  Netherlands – Shauny Built  Poland – Katarzyna Krzeszowska  Puerto Rico – Isamar de Jesús  Ukraine – Anastasia Lenna  United States – Lauren Petersen  Venezuela – Reina Rojas |

#### Notes

* § – Voted into the Top 10 by fans

### Special awards

| Awards | Contestant |
| Best National Costume | Philippines – Parul Shah |
| Best Evening Gown | Japan – Ayaka Tanaka |
| Best in Swimsuit | Costa Rica – Mariela Aparicio |
| Best in Social Media | India – Vartika Singh |
| Miss Popular Vote | Sri Lanka – Ornella Gunesekere |

## Pageant
### Format

In the pageant grand final round held on 7 October, after an introduction section, twenty contestants, who were selected through the preliminary round held on 5 October as well as all pre-pageant scorings, qualified for the top 20, in which each of the qualified candidates competed in the swimsuit. The score from this round, together with all previous accumulation scores, determined the top 10 finalists who then competed against each other in the evening gown and speech session. Based on accumulation scores, the final five were selected to continue in the question and answer portion, where the winner and runners-up were determined.

## Contestants

77 contestants competed for the title.
| Country/Territory | Delegate | Age | Hometown |
| Albania | Enkelejda Lajci | 17 | Tirana |
| Angola | Meriam Kaxuxwena | 22 | Luanda |
| Australia | Claire Parker [ast] | 23 | Sydney |
| Belgium | Rana Özkaya | 18 | Limburg |
| Belarus | Luliia Kuper | 19 | Minsk |
| Bolivia | Adriana Delgadillo | 24 | Sucre |
| Brazil | Paula Gomes | 23 | Campo Grande |
| Bulgaria | Veneta Krasteva | 23 | Sofia |
| Cambodia | Seng Polvithavy | 23 | Phnom Penh |
| Canada | Jade Caron | 23 | Toronto |
| China | Huili Xie | 23 | Henan |
| Colombia | Gisella Correa | 24 | Chocó |
| Costa Rica | Mariela Aparicio | 27 | San José |
| Cuba | María Manzo | 23 | Havana |
| Czech Republic | Taťána Makarenko [cs] | 25 | Prague |
| Denmark | Isabella Christensen | 17 | Herning |
| Dominican Republic | Anea García | 20 | Cranston |
| Egypt | Cherine Shiba | 20 | Cairo |
| England | Elizabeth Greenham | 22 | Wallasey |
| Estonia | Anna Liisa Virkus | 24 | Tallinn |
| Ethiopia | Bethelhem Belay | 21 | Addis Ababa |
| France | Eline Lamboley | 18 | Paris |
| Ghana | Charlee Berbicks | 21 | Accra |
| Guatemala | Analí Calderón | 26 | San Pedro Sacatepéquez |
| Guyana | Soyini Fraser | 25 | Georgetown |
| Haiti | Marie Darline Exumé [fr] | 24 | Port-au-Prince |
| Honduras | Nadia Morales | 18 | Colón |
| Hong Kong | Janet Choi Hiu-Ying | 26 | Victoria |
| Hungary | Szabó Csillag | 20 | Pest |
| India | Vartika Singh | 23 | Lucknow |
| Indonesia | Yolanda Remetwa | 21 | Malang |
| Iran | Shadi Osmani | 26 | Tabriz |
| Israel | Karin Nakash | 27 | Beit Dagan |
| Italy | Maria Murazzani | 23 | Oristano |
| Japan | Ayaka Tanaka | 25 | Saitama |
| Kenya | Elaine Mwangi | 22 | Nairobi |
| Macau | Chloe Lan Wan-Ling | 23 | Macau |
| Macedonia | Dunavka Trifunovska | 34 | Skopje |
| Malaysia | Santhawan Boonratana | 23 | Kelantan |
| Malta | Sarah Marcieca | 24 | Balzan |
| Mexico | Aracely Azar | 25 | Campeche |
| Moldova | Bianca Mihalache | 19 | Chișinău |
| Mongolia | Khaliunaa Munkhsoyol | 21 | Ulaanbaatar |
| Myanmar | San Htate Htar Linn | 21 | Yangon |
| Namibia | Unongo Kutako | 23 | Okakarara |
| Nepal | Jenita Basnet | 27 | Kathmandu |
| Netherlands | Shauny Built | 23 | Boxtel |
| Nigeria | Ifeoma Ohia | 22 | Lagos |
| Norway | Sonia Singh | 23 | Oslo |
| Panama | María Suárez | 24 | Chiriquí |
| Peru | Alejandra Almonte | 20 | Ucayali |
| Philippines | Parul Shah | 26 | San Nicolas |
| Poland | Katarzyna Krzeszowska [pl] | 25 | Krynica-Zdrój |
| Portugal | Inês Filipa Gigante | 23 | Lisbon |
| Puerto Rico | Isamar de Jesús | 18 | Bayamón |
| Romania | Georgiana Radu | 22 | Bucharest |
| Scotland | Taylor Stringfellow | 23 | Glasgow |
| Singapore | Rouzi Yan | 25 | Singapore |
| Slovakia | Andrea Barthalosová5 | 21 | Lučenec |
| Sri Lanka | Ornella Gunesekere [tr] | 23 | Kirulapana |
| South Africa | Lenie Pieterse | 22 | Johannesburg |
| South Korea | Dasol Lee | 25 | Seoul |
| South Sudan | Akan William | 22 | Juba |
| Spain | Andrea de Cozar | 21 | Málaga |
| Suriname | Svetoisckia Brunswijk | 18 | Paramaribo |
| Sweden | Issabella Georgsson | 22 | Uppsala |
| Chinese Taipei | Vicki Lin | 25 | Taipei |
| Thailand | Rattikorn Kunsom | 22 | Songkhla |
| Tonga | Sicilia Makisi | 22 | Nukualofa |
| Tunisia | Arij Nasri | 22 | Téboursouk |
| Uganda | Lilian Gashumba | 26 | Kawaala |
| Ukraine | Anastasia Lenna | 24 | Kyiv |
| United States | Lauren Petersen | 24 | Missouri |
| United States Virgin Islands | Petra Cabrera | 21 | Charlotte Amalie |
| Venezuela | Reina Rojas | 22 | Caracas |
| Vietnam | Nguyễn Thị Lệ Quyên | 22 | Bạc Liêu |
| Wales | Danielle Latimer | 26 | Barry |