Wongpattanakit won the women’s under-49 kilograms final against China’s number six seed Qing Guo at the Shanxi Sports Center in Taiyuan, known as China’s Dragon City.

Guo briefly held the advantage in the second round, but Wongpattanakit came back to win emphatically.

Wongpattanakit, who signalled her ability with gold at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, became a world champion for the first time at the age of 18 and remains world number one in her weight division.

Bronze went to Madinabonu Mannopova of Uzbekistan and South Korea’s Mi-eu Kang.

Later there was a shock in store for Iran’s Nahid Kiyanichandeh who had won World Taekwondo Championship gold in Baku in May.

In a dramatic finish to the under-57kg final, Canadian Skylar Park claimed the verdict 8-7 by winning the final point in the very last second.

South Korea’s Ah-reum Lee and Tatiana Minina of Russia, competing as a neutral, both took bronze.

A further five Russian competitors including Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallists Maxim Khramtsov and Vladislav Larin are set to compete over the next two days under a neutral flag.

In the men’s under-58kg top seed Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi of Tunisia defeated South Korea’s Jun Jang of South Korea with a crescent kick to secure the verdict in the last 20 seconds.

South Korea's teenage world champion Tae-joon Park and 2023 European Games champion Adrian Vicente of Spain were both forced to settle for bronze.

Competition on the second day tomorrow is due to feature the women’s under-67kg, men’s under-68kg and under-80kg events.