WARSAW:

Eighteen-year-old Tatana Kucharova from the Czech Republic was crowned Miss World 2006 in a glittering and star-studded ceremony at the Sala Kongresowa in Warsaw, Poland on the September 30.

Romanian Ioana Valentin Boitor and Australian Sabrina Houssami were chosen as first and second runners-up respectively.

Kucharova practices tennis, volleyball and horse back riding; according to her own presentation, her motto is “always maintain optimism”.

The Czech blonde was crowned the Miss World from out of 104 beatiful ladies of the world.

An impressive cast of international stars and music artists ensured that the 56th Miss World finale was a dazzling event.

The spectacular event was hosted by top Chinese TV presenter Angela Chow and British host Tim Vincent. They were joined by leading Polish TV presenter Grazyna Torbicka.

Top notch musical entertainment at the Miss World finale came in the form of internationally-successful band Westlife and Bee Gees singing legend Robin Gibb. Pop opera quartet Amici also performed at the function.