The World Taekwondo Junior Championships concluded in Burnaby in Canada today ©WTF

Competitors from Great Britain, Slovenia, Iran and Russia all claimed gold medals on the final day of the 2016 World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) World Taekwondo Junior Championships today at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre in Burnaby.

South Korea and Iran finished atop of the men's and women's overall standings respectively.

South Korea secured seven men's medals in total in Canada, five of which were gold, while Iran claimed two gold medals and two bronzes in women's competition to finish first.

The first final of the concluding day saw Polina Khan of Russia come up against Lauren Williams of Britain in the women's under 68 kilogram category, the latter coming out on top.

Williams started aggressively, producing a head kick which was withdrawn following an appeal.

But she did not let up as the action restarted, displaying a ferocious fighting style to give her a 3-2 lead.

The Briton continued to dominate in the second round, punching Khan to the edge of the mats and axing her on the way down but once again her points were withdrawn.

Two punches from Williams then extended her lead to 5-2, however.

Khan tried to get back into the contest, releasing some dangerous-looking spinning kicks, but it was Williams who took her score to 6-2.

One of Khan’s counter punches caught Williams mid-kick and pulled back a point, before a penalty point gave Williams a 7-4 lead.

Again, Williams stormed forward with an attack in the third round, scoring to Khan’s head which extended the score to 11-4, before another blow gave a final result of 13-4 to Williams. 

The bronze medals were won by bot Mi-na Myeong of South Korea and Croatia's Kristina Cerina.

South Korea and Iran finished top of the men's and women's medal tables respectively ©WTF
South Korea and Iran finished top of the men's and women's medal tables respectively ©WTF

The final of the men's under 78kg category followed as Partik Divkovic of Slovenia beat Hasan Can Lazoglu of Turkey.

Divkokic struck first with a single point body kick, and the two continued their distance sparring, but with little action as round one concluded 1-0 to the Slovenian.

The second round started faster, with the Turk trying to even the score and Divkovic using quick footwork to stay out of trouble.

Regardless, Lazoglu struck, taking the score to 2-1 and then 3-1 before Divkovic pulled it back to 3-2 as the two exchanged fast, light blows.

The final round started faster, with the Slovenian levelling the score at 3-3 before they both scored once more to take the contest to 4-4.

The Slovenian managed a kick on the retreat to go 5-4 up before Divkovic fired a picture-perfect punch at full extension to go 6-5 up and ultimately take the gold.

Ho-hyun Chun of South Korea and Yan Bai of China were victorious in their bronze medal bouts.

In the women's over 68kg final, Zahra Pouresmaeil of Iran took on Yun Ci Pan of Chinese Taipei and came out on top.

Pan struck first with a round kick to the body before the Iranian swiftly equalised from the edge of the mat before taking a 3-1 lead.

In the second round, the taller Pan was making every effort to score, but Pouresmaeil maintained a shrewd defence, making good use of parries and blocks to take a 3-2 lead into the third and final period.

As the third got underway, Pouresmaeil gained another point to extend her lead to 4-2, before Ho scored with a punch and, in the final 30 seconds, clawed back another point to make it 4-4.

But, with just 10 seconds remaining, Pouresmaeil emphatically scored again to snatch a 5-4 victory.

The bronze medals were shared by Do-hee Yoon of South Korea and Rebecca McGowan of Britain.

Canada’s Skylar Park, left, and South Korea’s Chan-Ho, right, were named as the competition's MVPs ©WTF
Canada’s Skylar Park, left, and South Korea’s Chan-Ho, right, were named as the competition's MVPs ©WTF

The gold medal bout of the men's over 78kg category brought the Championships to a close, as Russia’s Georgi Tandelov got the better of Aleksander Keselj of Germany.

From the beginning the Russian was on the front foot, landing heavy shots to both his opponent's body and head, racing into a 10-0 lead.

Tandelov sneaked a kick over the German’s shoulder to take the score to 13-4, before a crescent kick rattled Keselj's headgear to take the score to 16-6.

After the break in action, Tandelov once again attacked with a superb sliding ax kick that he planted squarely on the German’s face for a commanding 20-6 lead.

Tandelov raised his hand in victory, gesturing to his supporters that he thought the contest was won.

The match ended on point difference and the Tandelov secured a convincing gold medal victory.

Keselj was left with the silver, while bronze medals were awarded to Andrei Garbar of Ukraine and Leandro Souza of Brazil.

Following the action a Closing Ceremony, which featured a series of animated photographs from the previous five days and speeches by dignitaries, was held.

Members of each team then met on the field of play to exchange souvenirs and take photographs with one another.

Canada’s Skylar Park was named the most valuable player in the women's competition and South Korea’s Chan-Ho Jung took the honour in the men's.