Birthday gold for Marshall

Savannah Marshall celebrated her 21st birthday by being crowned Britain's first women's world boxing champion after a 17-15 victory over Azerbaijan's Elena Vystropova in Qinhuangdao. Marshall, who had already done enough to book her place at the London Olympics, shrugged off a bloody nose to repel the rugged challenge of her opponent and go one better than the world silver she claimed in 2010. The Hartlepool middleweight nudged 7-5 ahead at the halfway stage but had to hold on through a tough third round when an excellent uppercut from Vystropova led the blood to begin to pour from Marshall's nose. With Marshall still holding her two-point advantage heading into the final round, Vystropova came on strong again, but a neat combination in the dying seconds from Marshall helped edge her to an historic win. Earlier, Marshall's team-mate Nicola Adams had to settle for her third consecutive World Championship silver medal after falling 14-10 to China's Ren Cancan in the flyweight final. It was a disappointing result for Adams, who was beaten by the same opponent in the final in Bridgetown two years ago, but eased significantly by the knowledge she had already done enough to qualify for London 2012. Adams was made to pay for a sluggish start as Ren scored early to establish a two-point lead at the end of the first round. Although the Leeds boxer enjoyed increasing success with right hands, Ren extended her lead throughout. Ireland lightweight Katie Taylor claimed her fourth consecutive world title with a 16-6 win over Tajikistan's Mavzuna Chorieva, who had put out England's Natasha Jonas in the semi-finals.