Koryo Taekwondo Centre students kick goals with golds and a spot on the plane to Korea

Koryo Taekwondo Centre.

Tucked away in the flats of Shepparton East, the club continues to kick above its weight with a stunning display at the 2025 ATV State Poomsae Championships in the para division.

Five Koryo athletes stepped on the podium for their efforts in Poomsae, the discipline of pre-arranged patterns of movements that simulate combat techniques.

Rakshan Deo, Brodie Fitzgerald, Allena Nigro and Damon Vasterink claimed gold, while Liam Cashion cashed in with a silver at the event, held at Darebin Sports Stadium on Sunday.

It’s a remarkable return, given most medallists can count their comps on one hand.

But for Vasterink, Sunday’s collect marked another feather in a cap heavily festooned with merit.

Koryo Taekwondo owner Sammy Rachele was quick to lavish his star student with compliments following another dominant showing on the metro mats.

“Damon, at the moment, he’s ranked number 13 in the world which is crazy good,” Rachele said.

“He’s just at a level on his own in Australia; I think he’s only ever been defeated once in Australia for the last how many years he’s been competing — five, six, seven years.

“He’s my number one guy at the moment — I put a lot and effort into him because he’s got nobody, his mum’s in a wheelchair and she’s limited in what she can do.”

Rachele has been a stern campaigner for para and disabled athletes for a long time, working with Banmira Specialist School — formerly Verney Road School — on a regular basis.

He recently secured a position on Australian Taekwondo’s para committee and is part of a group pushing to have a dedicated section for athletes with intellectual impairments included in the Olympics.

Rachele is optimistic that it could be green lit by 2032 for the Brisbane-hosted event.

And it just so happens there are a couple of candidates on his back doorstep who could very well don the green and gold in eight years’ time.

“These kids like Liam, Rakshan and Brodie that are a younger age, they’re the ones I’m looking at for the future to hopefully be in the Australian team and in the Olympics,” Rachele said.

The para quintet isn’t the only beacon flying the Koryo flag high.

Sixteen-year-old Josh Kennedy has qualified for the 2025 Chuncheon Korea Open International Taekwondo Championships, an international proving ground that will take him to the sport’s spiritual heartland next month.

Kennedy has been a student at Rachele’s Dojang for a decade now and his upcoming pugilistic pilgrimage is a nod to the lofty heights he’s destined for.

“I can remember when he was below my waist height,” Rachele said with a laugh.

“He loves to fight and he’s got into the performance pathways program with Australian Taekwondo, he trains regularly with a team in Melbourne — they asked him if he wanted to go to the Korean Open, representing Australia.

“He’s never been to Korea or the world taekwondo headquarters, so they’re going to do a bit of travelling around the history of taekwondo plus compete in the Korean Open, which is probably one of the biggest competitions of the year in terms of elite fighters.”

Kennedy is a top ager in the 15-17 bracket and after years of, in Rachele’s words, “copping an absolute flogging” by the older guys, the taekwondo prodigy is ready.

Now, it’s his turn to dish it out.

“He’s really holding his own, he’s had some really good fights and some good results already in the Vics,” Rachele said.

“Hopefully, he goes over there with the team and has a really good competition.”