(UPI) Tobacco enthusiasts from around the world put their slow-smoking skills to the test at the Cigar Smoking World Championship in Thailand.

The competition, which featured 17 men and five women, saw each person receive an identical cigar and two matches, with the object to smoke the cigar for as long as possible without it going out or losing its ash.

Swedish competitor Mikael Petersson was dubbed the winner after smoking his cigar for 1 hour, 47 seconds -- beating the second-place finisher by only 7 seconds.

None of the competitors came close to the world record: 3 hours, 40 minutes.

The winner of the competition qualified to compete at the next event in September in Split, Croatia.

The competition, which featured 17 men and five women, saw each person receive an identical cigar and two matches, with the object to smoke the cigar for as long as possible without it going out or losing its ash.

Swedish competitor Mikael Petersson was dubbed the winner after smoking his cigar for 1 hour, 47 seconds -- beating the second-place finisher by only 7 seconds.

None of the competitors came close to the world record: 3 hours, 40 minutes.

The winner of the competition qualified to compete at the next event in September in Split, Croatia.

Copyright 2019 by United Press International