Taekwondo sport made its debut in the GSSE yesterday in Andorra but for Maltese martial artists Neville Desira and Stephen Formosa it was not a day to remember.

Desira got an easy passage to the semi-finals of the U-68kg category after receiving a bye in the draw. His first match was against Kenny Douala, of Monaco. He proved technically superior to Desira who finished at the wrong end of a 19-8 final scoreline.

Desira was still in contention for a bronze medal in the competition when he stepped on the mat to face Yuri Adran Villacieros, of Andorra, in the third-place play-off. Backed by the home support, Villacieros ran out comfortable winner 12-1 to leave Desira empty-handed.

The gold medal in this event went to Christos Karaolis.

In midweek, Formosa's preparations were hit by an injury to his groin. That left him struggling to regain full fitness for his quarter-final bout in the U-80kg class. His opponent was Andorra's Mario Carles Rodrigues.

Formosa was clearly not at his best and eventually bowed out of the competition after a 5-0 defeat.

The gold medal in the U-80kg was won by Bjorn Thorleiffson, of Iceland. He beat Cyprus's Christos Pilavakis 13-8 in the final.