All smiles: Liam Summers, Damon Vasterink, Ethan McKay, Sammy Rachele and Katrina Moutafis are heading to Bendigo for the Taekwondo National Championships on Saturday.
Some of the Koryo Taekwondo Centre’s brightest talents are heading to Bendigo this weekend for the Australian Taekwondo National Championships.
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Six of the Shepparton dojo’s talents will represent Victoria against Australia’s best, with Liam Summers, Ethan McKay, Damon Vasterink, Katrina Moutafis, Josh Kennedy and owner Sammy Rachele set to compete.
"We had the state selections just over a month ago, everybody got into the team and now we’ve got the national championships which are in Bendigo this weekend,“ Rachele said.
“It’s just good to be back to some sort of normality after two and a bit years of no competition and even no training, the dojo was practically closed down for two years because of COVID-19.”
Originally scheduled to be held in Perth, Rachele was happy when the event made the switch to Bendigo, with the ease of driving far outweighing flying to Western Australia.
The dojo owner said after a slump due to COVID-19 interruptions, the club was slowly rebuilding, with participation numbers on the rise.
“It’s only a small group going to nationals,” he said.
“Normally we have a fair few more, but it’s a start, it’s good to get back into it and good always for the kids to step over the line and try for real against competition to build their confidence and just be better.”
All set to go: The group is up and about ahead of the national event.
Two disciplines will be on offer at this year’s championships, with Kyorugi (sparring) and Poomsae (patterns) to be undertaken.
Alongside these events, board breaking is set to make an appearance, with Rachele looking to go bigger and better than his state championship performance in the same category.
“It just depends on how many boards you can break,” he said.
“I went through nine for the Victorian titles and I lost by one, so I’m going to go for 15 for the nationals and hopefully I don’t break my hand.”
The national championships will also provide the Goulburn Valley talents with an opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the world’s best, with a marquee fight night set to give regional Victoria a glimpse at Australia’s potential Paris 2024 Olympians.
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