Agier, the current world champion, is expected to be pushed all the way by Buchinger during October’s event in Linz and earned the first bragging rights ahead of the sport’s flagship annual competition.

The French karateka was made to work hard for her title in Braga as she edged a tense final 1-0 to ensure she topped the podium.

Maya Suzuki of Japan and Titta Keinanen of Finland each took home a bronze medal.

Giana Lotfy of Egypt was also in impressive form at the World University Karate Championship – the first major event to be held in the sport since karate was granted inclusion on the Olympic programme for the first time at Tokyo 2020 – as she reigned supreme in the under 61 kumite division.

The Egyptian proved too strong for Natasha Stefanovska of Macedonia in the gold medal bout, with the two bronze medals in the category going to China’s Yin Xiaoyan and Japanese karateka Ayami Moriguchi.

In the women's kata, Japan's Misaki Tanaka stunned Pan American champion Sakura Kokumai from the United States to claim her first big triumph in major international competitions.

Randa Abdelaziz of Egypt and Alexandra Feracci of France were beaten in the semi-finals but left with bronze medals.

France's Emily Thouy continued the successful showing from her country at the event in the Portuguese city by earning a second gold medal for the nation with a comprehensive win against Macedonia's Simona Zaborska in the women's under 55kg kumite event.

Wen Tzu-Yun of Chinese Taipei and Egyptian Aya Ibrahim secured bronze.

Steven Da Costa, also of France, maintained his excellent form in 2016 as the European champion overcame Austria's Stefan Pokorny to surge to the top of the podium in the men's kumite under 67kg.

They were joined by bronze medallists Magdy Abdelazez of Egypt and New Zealand's Barney Gill.

The last day of action brought the three-day competition to a close.