Father-and-son taekwondo duo inducted into Hall of Fame
RENOWNED Geelong martial artist Phill Zdybel was left “speechless” after he and his son were inducted into the Australasian International Taekwondo Federation Hall Of Fame.
Zdybel — who has competed, coached and instructed taekwondo since 1986 — was honoured with an international ambassador award during a recent dinner in Melbourne.
His trailblazing son Joshua, who is set to make the leap to the senior ranks after dominating national and international events, was also honoured with the Hall of Fame’s outstanding athlete award after being nominated by his father.
“I didn’t expect it,” Phill said. “From my point of view, I didn’t think I should be there. There’s other people who have been around for a long time and they have done a lot of good work.
“So I really had to think about that (whether to accept the nomination) for a couple of weeks. But I’m still stoked. It’s the ultimate honour.
“I don’t know if it’s overdue, but they keep telling me it is.
“I’m very happy to carry the Australia flag in all the events I have been to internationally, and whether they have been
ITF or WT (World Taekwondo) events, I’m proud to compete and coach and I’m proud to be Australian.
“I’m a little bit lost for words, I really am.”
The pair had a formal dinner with members of the ITF on Friday evening before an informal gathering on Saturday night.
Hundreds were expected to hit Melbourne for the Arnold Classic sports festival and the Hall of Fame dinner, but international competitors were prevented from travelling due to coronavirus.
Taekwondo Australia’s Arnold Classic tournament went ahead, with Josh claiming silver in poomsae, tul patterns and WT sparring and gold in ITF sparring.
“He took it easy, but he performed well,” Phill said.
“He competed in WT patterns, which is something he didn’t really want to do, but he got a silver (medal).
“He got good scores. He got 8s across the board from all the judges. His whole performance was a bit down, but then he went out and did what he does best in the ITF where the competition was good and he took out gold in what will be his last junior event.
“Now he’s not even looking at the Olympics, he’s looking at turning pro.”