Miss Ireland Rosanna Davison was on Saturday night crowned Miss World at a glittering ceremony in Sanya, in south China.

Miss India Ami Vashi was among the top five.

Davison had earlier topped the Miss World Beach beauty segment and was a favourite among webmasters and bookies.

There were two Indians among the nine judges, president of the Times of India group Pradeep Guha and Krish Naidoo, a businessman-cum-charity worker based in Ireland.

Krish has been involved with the Miss World organization for 24 years and is one of the mainstays of the 'beauty with a purpose' campaign which has already raised more than one million pound for children in Ireland alone.

He heads a hotels and leisure company in Ireland where he lives with his family, the website said.

Incidentally, the organisers announced on Saturday night that the pageant would return to China next year.

Sanya, this year's venue, is a picturesque seaside city in the southern Hainan province. The government of Hainan had spent millions of dollars in recent years to make the tropical island a popular tourist destination.