Ugly scenes tainted the final day of rehearsals for the Chinese leg of the 12th Top Model of the World pageant when a third of the contenders stormed out amid controversy. Claiming the final result had been fixed and citing the promoter's poor organisation, 10 of the 28 finalists turned their back on the event. But the company in charge of the pageant - Beijing Tianjiu Weiye Media - has defended its handling of the models, and says the winner prevailed on her merits. The models who stormed out on Monday were from Hunan , Hainan , and Inner Mongolia . The Beijing Morning Post said they walked out because they felt the event was not being run professionally. In addition, they said they were forced to do too many promotional events in the 10 days leading up to Tuesday's final, one of which was at a nightclub. 'They took us to an entertainment venue where the men were wearing pyjamas and the women were behaving unacceptably,' the newspaper quoted one of the disgruntled models as saying. 'It was an insult.' Days before the mass walkout, there was a rumour circulating that Hubei model Sun Na would win the Chinese leg of the international event. 'The result will be fixed. We all know she's going to win it,' an unnamed contestant claimed in the newspaper. And Na did win, netting a prize valued at 200,000 yuan. But the organiser has a different take on the events. 'I think these young contestants were manipulated by somebody, and in my view the whole event was a very big success,' Beijing Tianjiu Weiye Media general manager Han Wei told the South China Morning Post. 'An unfortunate problem occurred at the entertainment venue, as the guide led the models into the wrong area of the club.' None of the models, aged 15 to 23, could be reached for comment yesterday.
