Former Bradford College student Nicola Adams toasted her remarkable boxing comeback as England’s female boxers made history by guaranteeing two medals at the World Championships in Barbados.

The Leeds flyweight, who won England’s only previous world medal with a silver in China two years ago, beat South Korea’s Euna Jang 12-1, while Hartlepool teenager Savannah Marshall beat Norway’s European champion Lotte Lien 6-2.

Both English fighters will bid for bid for places in their respective finals in the early hours of Saturday morning and for Adams, the achievement caps an amazing recovery from a career-threatening back injury.

Adams, who was a member of the Bradford Police and College Academy Boxing Club when it opened in 2008, said: “A year ago my injury was so bad I literally could not get out of bed. If you’d told me this was going to happen I would have thought you were mad.

“Even when I finally came back my timing was off and my fitness was off and there were times when I wondered if it was worth it. But in the end I think my dedication paid off.

“I had so much help from my physios and also from my friends and family who convinced me to carry on. When I returned and won a gold medal in Crete (at a multi-nation tournament) earlier this year I knew I could get back to my best.”

Adams was never in danger against Jang, controlling the bout from the start as she picked off her opponent for a 2-0 lead which she extended to an almost unassailable five-point advantage by the half-way point.

Adams added: “It’s fantastic to know I’ll be going home with a medal but I haven’t finished yet. I want to get into the final and make sure this time it’s a gold medal I’ll be bringing home.”

Meanwhile 19-year-old Marshall beat the experienced Norwegian Lien and also move into the last four on her World Championship debut.

Adams will next face Finland’s Hanne Makinen in the flyweight semi-finals while at welterweight Marshall faces Holland’s Marichelle De Jong.

Light-welterweight Chantelle Cameron was beaten 16-4 by Russia’s Vera Slugina in the light-welterweight quarter-finals, while Welsh light-flyweight Lynsey Holdaway was beaten 9-2 by India’s four-time world champion Mary Kom.