A HEARTBROKEN Lauren Williams has vowed to come back stronger after her agonising exit on debut at the World Taekwondo Championships in South Korea.

The 18-year-old was in tears following a quarter-final defeat to China’s Mengyu Zhang on Monday – the Blackwood fighter held a one-point advantage with 10 seconds left before losing 31-22.

“I am very disappointed,” she said. “I came to Korea expecting to do really well and to lose in the quarter-finals is not good enough for me.

“I put too much pressure on myself to win.

“But taekwondo is a sport of fine margins and I was on the wrong side of those margins.

“However, I know with time I will get over this disappointment and come back even stronger.

“I am only 18, this was my first World Championships, and I will learn the lesson – as harsh as it seems at the moment.”

While Williams was competing at her first senior world championships in Muju, the teenager went into the event on the back of two junior global titles.

And she made a blistering start to her campaign in the -67kg division, cruising to a 29-7 thrashing of the Ivory Coast’s Marie Frederique Ekpitini.

Her next encounter, against Greece’s Athanasia Mitsopoulou, proved to be a lot closer, with the bout going all the way to a ‘golden point’ after the scores were tied at 21-21.

Williams held her nerve in overtime to seal a 23-21 triumph and set-up a meeting with Zhang.

A place in the semi-finals, and a medal, looked to be on the cards as Williams led 21-20 with only seconds remaining.

However, Zhang was far from finished and managed to add 11 points to her score during the last 10 seconds, while Williams could only muster another one.

Despite being 18 and having time on her side, Williams will know she missed a great opportunity to add to her medal collection.

But, as she says, this experience can only stand her in good stead for the future, and there is every chance of the youngster going further at the next world championships in 2019.

There are, of course, plenty of competitions to come before then, and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, including the World Taekwondo Grand Prix at London's Copper Box Arena in October.

That will give Williams a platform to show what she can do in front of the British public, while double Olympic champion Jade Jones, who begins her campaign in Muju on Thursday, is also set to appear in the capital.