Aaliyah Powell, 16, makes history with World Championship medal

The 16-year-old has combined her GCSE studies with preparing for her first senior competition.

And she handed out a series of taekwondo lessons on her -53kg debut to join Bianca Walkden, Bradly Sinden and Jade Jones on the podium.

“My initial aim was to win my first match and everything after that was a bonus,” said the reigning junior world champion following a 38-5 defeat in the penultimate round to Russian Tatiana Kudashova.

“But everyone comes here to win

“However, if someone had told me I would get to the semi-finals I would have taken that.

“There was no pressure because I am one of the youngest people in the competition. But in my own mind I know my own ability.”

Despite her junior world success, Powell suffered an early exit in the 2018 Youth Olympics.

“They were a big learning curve for me,” admitted the Quest Taekwondo prospect.

“I prepared well for it, but when I got there I crumbled with the atmosphere, the crowd and the title of the competition.

“Sometimes in juniors you can get away with it if you are a bit sloppy, but seniors are not going to give you that break.”

Powell’s achievement eclipsed Jade Jones who was 18 when winning in South Korea eight years ago.

Receiving a bye in the first round, Powell looked perfectly at ease in her unfamiliar surroundings, even taking out Greece’s Christianna Tyrologou on golden point.

She followed up by beating Morocco’s Oumaima El Bouchiti to earn a semi-final showdown against Russia’s Muju silver medallist.

Jones finally added an elusive first world taekwondo title to her double Olympic gold with a 14-7 win over defending champion Lee Ah-reum.

Jones, who had been defeated by Lee at the semi-final stage in Muju two years ago, defied a final-round fightback to claim a victory that underlines her status as one of the sport’s all-time greats.