NEWPORT Taekwondo star Lauren Williams is on top of the world after retaining her title at the WTF Junior World Championships in Canada.

The 17-year-old crushed Russian Polina Khan 13-4 in the -68kg final to repeat her success of two years earlier.

Scottish teenager Rebecca McGowan also claimed a podium finish by taking bronze in the +68 weight division.

But it was Williams who takes the plaudits, further underlining her potential as a Tokyo 2020 candidate.

In five contests she dropped only six points, racking up 76 in reply and stopping four of her opponents before full distance.

Williams, also the reigning senior European champion, has blazed a trail through the junior ranks, achieving feats that even double Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones couldn’t manage.

Williams stamped her authority on the final straight from the off with a three-point head shot. However, the Russian successfully appealed and the points were withdrawn for kicking a downed opponent.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.

Williams stopped Croatia’s Kristina Cerina in the semi-finals by a 17-2 margin having opened the tournament with a hat-trick of whitewashes against Roman Torres of Puerto Rico, Norway’s Eliza Haugen and Nian En Cai of Chinese Taipei.

McGowan, a senior medallist at last month’s Galeb Trophy, can consider herself unfortunate not to earn a fight for gold.

The Glaswegian prospect opened up with a 14-4 success over Australia’s Chelsea Hobday and then edged out 2015 Asian Championship bronze medallist Shuwen Lu of China 5-4.

In the quarter-finals, McGowan despatched Ella Borisova of Russia 6-2 before losing 13-11 against eventual silver medallist, Yun Ci Pan of Chinese Taipei.