Miss International 2003

Miss International 2003, the 43rd Miss International pageant, was held on October 8, 2003 at Radisson Miyako Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. Forty-five beauties from all over the world competed to win the coveted title held by Christina Sawaya of Lebanon. In the end, Goizeder Azúa of Venezuela won the title.^[1]

Miss International 2003
Date	October 8, 2003
Venue	Radisson Miyako Hotel, Tokyo, Japan
Broadcaster	TV Tokyo
Entrants	45
Placements	12
Debuts	Ethiopia Latin Mexico Native American Serbia and Montenegro
Withdrawals	Curaçao Czech Republic Dominican Republic Ecuador Hawaii Lebanon Macedonia Moldova Nicaragua Panama Poland Senegal Sweden
Returns	Argentina Chile Costa Rica Croatia New Zealand Nigeria Ukraine Vietnam
Winner	Goizeder Azúa[1] Venezuela
Congeniality	Saeko Matsumi Japan
Photogenic	Goizeder Azúa Venezuela
← 2002 2004 →

Results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss International 2003	Venezuela – Goizeder Azúa[1]
1st Runner-Up	India – Shonali Nagrani
2nd Runner-Up	Finland – Suvi Hartlin
Top 12	Bolivia – Muriel Cruz  China – Wang Chan  France – Elodie Couffin  Greece – Apostolina Zaproydis  Japan – Saeko Matsumi  Russia – Tatiana Chebotarevskaya  South Korea – Shin Ji-soo  Thailand – Pawina Bamrungrot  Ukraine – Veronika Bondarenko

Special awards

Awards	Contestant
Miss Friendship	Japan - Saeko Matsumi
Miss Photogenic	Venezuela - Goizeder Azúa
Best National Costume	China - Wang Chan

Contestants

• Argentina – Catalina Rouiller
• Aruba – Falon Juliana Lopez
• Bolivia – Carmen Muriel Cruz Claros
• Brazil – Carlessa Rubicínthia Macedo da Rocha
• Canada – Katarzyna Dziedzic
• Chile – Christiane Balmelli Fournier
• China – Wang Chan
• Colombia – Isabel Sofia Cabrales Baquero
• Costa Rica – Merilyn Villalta Castro
• Croatia – Maja Uzarevic
• Cyprus – Maria Pelekanou
• Ethiopia – Yodit Getahun
• Finland – Suvi Paivikki Hartlin
• France – Elodie Couffin
• Germany – Aleksandra Vodjanikova
• Greece – Apostolina Zaproydis
• Guatemala – Ana Pamela Prado Diaz
• Hong Kong – Priscilla Chik Doi-Doi
• India – Shonali Nagrani
• Israel – Stavit Budin
• Japan – Saeko Matsumi
• Latin Mexico – Lorena Ruiz Martinez
• Malaysia – Ester Tan
• Malta – Nadine Cassar
• Mexico – Gabriela Ortiz
• Native American – Lana-la Trell Onque Henry
• New Zealand – Amber Jean Peebles
• Nigeria – Nwando Okwosa
• Northern Mariana Islands – Nancie Rae King Ripple
• Philippines – Jhezarie Games Javier
• Puerto Rico – Dignelis Jiménez
• Russia – Tatiana Chebotarevskaya
• Serbia and Montenegro – Andja Ratko Budimir
• Singapore – Berlin Koh Meng Yean
• Slovakia – Simona Slobodnikova
• South Korea – Shin Ji-soo
• Spain – Maria Carrillo Reyes
• Thailand – Pawina Bamrungrot
• Tunisia – Amira Thabet
• Turkey – Gizem Kalyoncu
• Ukraine – Veronika Dmitrievna Bondarenko
• United Kingdom – Gayle Williamson
• United States – Masielle Otero
• Venezuela – Goizeder Victoria Azua Barrios
• Vietnam – Lê Minh Phượng

Notes

Did not compete

• Algeria – Massika Benakila
• Czech Republic – Klára Medková (ill the day before she was to leave for Japan)
• Lebanon – Rita Lamah
• Norway – Marna Haugen

Country changes

• Yugoslavia changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro.