There was also a bronze medal for Britain's Tyrone Robinson.

Stevenson, 25, showed that she was back to her medal winning best in the -73kg female final after recent injury problems, winning 9-2 against Spanish opponent Sandra Rodelas Lorenzo, having missed last year’s inaugural event through injury.

Stevenson said, “My ankle feels fine now and I’ve been fit and training for a while.

"I’m really happy that my return to major competition has been successful and I feel really good after that final.

“The first couple of matches were more difficult and I couldn’t quite get going."

The new electronic scoring system was adopted after a huge row at last year's Olympics in Beijing in which Stevenson was at the centre of.

Officials had to reverse the result of Stevenson's quater-final match against China's two-time Olympic champion Chen Zhong, who had never lost a bout in the Games, after the judges missed a clear hit to the head worth two points when she was 1-0 down.

Stevenson was reinstated after offcials studied video evidence and interviewed the judges and referees.

The Yorkshirewoman then went on to win a bronze medal.

This event gives athletes from over 30 national teams competing, the chance to gain vital match practice with the new electronic scoring system which will be in use in October’s World Championships.

Stevenson said: "With the new electronic scoring pads, it is a bit harder to score and we all need to adjust our technique slightly.

"The most important thing is to make the sport as fair as possible."

Robinson, a 22-year-old from Mansfield, achieved a podium finish, picking up a bronze after losing out in the semi-finals of the -58kg to Germany’s 2008 European Champion, Levent Tuncat.

Aaron Cook was also in action, but lost out to Korean, Kim Jae Hak, in the final second of their encounter.

Andrew Link, the operations director of Sport Taekwondo UK and chairman of the ETU A-class Committee said: “It was a great first day’s action and hopefully tomorrow’s weight categories will provide equally entertaining competition.

"The number of international teams that have made the journey to Manchester really make for an exciting and competitive Championships and we are proud to be hosting such a major tournament in the UK once again."