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Miss World pageant held in Earls Court.
The 19-year-old top model becomes the second contestant to make it through to the final rounds of the pageant after Angeline Hundah (nee Musasiwa), came an amazing fourth at the 1994 Miss World contest.
Malaika cruised through to qualify into the semi-finals (top 15) and then agonisingly missed out when the final seven contestants were called out.
The lanky model eventually settled for ninth position, an incredible achievement for Malaika and Zimbabwe.
The competition was won by Venezuela’s Ivian Lunasol Sarcos Colimenares while in second place was Miss Philippines Gwendoline Gaelle Sandrine Ruais and Miss Puerto Rico Amanda Victoria Vilanova Perez came third.
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But for Malaika making it through to the finals was quite remarkable considering the stiff competition at this year’s pageant.
At least half of the contestants are studying for degrees at various universities in their countries and one in every four spoke more than three languages.
The judges for the night – among them founder and chairman of the Miss World Julia Morley – Miss World 2009 Kaiane Aldorino and Agbani Darego, the Miss World 2001, had a tough time in choosing the queen worthy of the 2011 title.
The Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Minister Walter Mzembi, who was among the strong and vocal crowd, hailed Malaika and the nation at large for the support.
“We are happy for Malaika because she put Zimbabwe on the map and a good fight to reach the top 15. We also want to congratulate Miss Venezuela for winning and Ordos Mongolia for winning the bid to host the event in 2012.
“We are now looking at collaborating with Ordos in hosting next year’s event because we want to see the contestants coming to Victoria Falls just like they did in Scotland in the run-up to the finals this year. We want to host such mega events,” Minister Mzembi said.
The event, that was beamed live to over 150 countries with a global audience of over one billion viewers, will next year be held in Ordos Mongolia.
Marking its 60th birthday, Miss World went down memory lane with snippets of previous events and a special message from Nelson Mandela, former South African president, as well as an appearance by Miss World 1975 Wilnelia Merced Forsyth.
Online Reporter