Blackwood teenager Lauren Williams has capped off a stunning year in the sport after retaining her title at the World Taekwondo Federation’s (WTF) Junior World Championships in Canada.
The 17-year-old, who became senior European champion and won the Greece and Polish Opens earlier this year, beat Russian Polina Khan 13-4 in the 68kg final to repeat her success of 2014.
In five contests, the teenager dropped just six points, racking up 76 in reply, and stopping four of her opponents before the end of the bout.
Lauren’s unstoppable form in 2016 has seen her blaze a trail through the junior ranks, achieving feats that not even double Olympic gold medallist and fellow Welshwoman Jade Jones has managed.
Lauren opened her tournament with a hat-trick of whitewashes, defeating Puerto Rico’s Roman Torres, Eliza Haugen of Norway, and Nian En Cai from Chinese Taipei to book her place in the semi-final.
There, she faced Croatian Kristina Cerina, where she conceded her first points of the Junior Finals, held in Burnaby, Canada. A sturdy 17-2 victory saw her progress to the final against Khan on Sunday November 20.
Lauren stamped her authority on the final straight from the off, with a three-point head shot, which were subsequently withdrawn on appeal for kicking a downed opponent.
Williams simply stepped up her attacks and finished the first round 3-2 in front.
The one-point gap became three at the end of the penultimate round and from 7-4 at the start of round three she pulled away to take the next six points in another brilliant masterclass and win 13-4.