CWMBRAN schoolgirl Hayley-Beth Rowlands has taken on the world and won.

The 15-year-old Croesyceil-iog High School pupil is the girls under-16 karate world champion.

Rowlands, already a British and European champion, added the world crown to her collection last weekend.

She won the International Federation of Karate competition at the K2 Arena in Crawley.

The prestigious event featured 85 competitors from 17 nations and Rowlands won nine fights to take her title, beating Swiss rival Andrea Gansner in the final.

She was also a winner in the team event with Great Britain A beating Great Britain B in the final.

“I’m very proud, I had a tear in my eye,” said her trainer and father Sempai Gareth Rowlands, who is chief instructor at Cwmbran Kyokushinkai Karate Club.

“I know how hard she has worked for this – training twice a week in Cardiff, twice a week in Cwmbran and alone at weekends.

“She is very dedicated and to see that hard work pay off is fantastic.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years and she’s been going since she was six months old so that is a huge advantage,” he added.

“But the work she puts in is phenomenal and we are very proud of her and her younger sister Jaime-May, who is the British under 5ft low grade champion.”

Hayley has her Shodan black belt eight-hour grading on August 20 and is building up towards the 2013 senior world championships in Russia.

“Hayley is now moving on from the junior form of karate, known as Clicker, to the under-18 form, known as Knockdown, which is full contact,” explained Gareth.

“I have no doubt that she’ll continue to shine, though, she is a very special talent.”

The Cwmbran Kyokushinkai Karate Club members meet to train on Mondays and Fridays at The Football Factory Wales on the Avondale Industrial Estate in Cwmbran.

For more details about the club visit cwmbrankarate.co.uk