Katie Taylor: Olympic champion clinches Rio place, Savannah Marshall qualifies

Victoria Torres and Katie Taylor battle for a Rio spot in Tuesday's lightweight quarter-final

London 2012 gold medallist Katie Taylor will defend her lightweight title in Rio after securing an Olympic Games berth at the World Championships.

The Co Wicklow fighter beat Victoria Torres of Mexico on a unanimous decision to make the semi-finals.

All four semi-finalists in Kazakhstan qualify for August's Olympics.

Middleweight Savannah Marshall became the 10th British boxer to book a place in Brazil by outpointing Chinese third seed Li Qian in her quarter-final bout.

Taylor, 29, who is guaranteed at least a bronze medal, impressed in Tuesday's quarter-final with a clinical display and is aiming for a sixth world title.

The Bray boxer beat Agnes Alexiusson of Sweden and Argentina's Dayana Sanchez in Astana before prevailing against Torres over four rounds.

Taylor was surprisingly beaten in the Olympic qualifier in Turkey last month.

Azerbaijan's Yana Alekseevna handed Taylor her first defeat in five years at the European Olympic qualifiers to leave the five-time world champion still seeking Rio qualification.

Alekseevna's victory in Samsun was Taylor's first defeat in 63 contests.

Meanwhile, Marshall, 25, will next face Dutch fighter Nouchka Fontijn for a place in the final.

Compatriot Nicola Adams kept on track for the first world gold of her career as she squeezed through against Yu-Ting Lin of Chinese Taipei in their flyweight bout.

Adams, who has already qualified for the Olympics, goes up against home favourite Ahaina Shekerbekova on Thursday, and knows she will not have to fight big rival Ren Cancan, who withdrew with food poisoning.

Great Britain's Sandy Ryan missed out on a world medal in the non-Olympic light-welterweight division as she lost on a unanimous decision to China's Wenlu Yang.