22nd September 2019

Josh Calland is celebrating after winning the first gold medal of his senior career.

The Liverpool born fighter defeated Spain’s Marcos Caballero Echevarria 8-3 in the -68kg final at the Polish Open in Warsaw.

Calland, who fought at the World Championships in Manchester earlier this year, also defeated top seed, Nimrod Krivishkiy of Israel 23-19 in the semi-finals.

“It felt really good getting on to the podium after the World Championships not going as well I would have liked,” said the new champion.

“It was good to pick up a medal here,” added Calland who previously collected a handful of silver and bronze medals before this latest breakthrough.

“Tactically, I think my fights got better as I started to get into the day.

“It was good some of the stuff I have been working on in the gym with my coach came off. I knew my plan and we went through it before my matches.”

The tournament marked 12 months since the 21-year-old’s return to the Manchester-based National Performance Centre after taking time out from the sport.

GB Taekwondo sent a small team to Warsaw with Calland the only athlete to make it onto the podium.

Heavyweight Jack Spall reached the quarter-finals at +87kg but lost 14-6 against Poland’s Mikolaj Szaferski.

Yorkshire’s Emelye O’Brien also reached the last eight at -57kg before losing to home favourite Patrycja Adamkiewicz.

And the third Brit missing out on the semi-finals was Brandon Jewell beaten 16-4 by -87kg top seed Rafael Kamalov of Russia.