By Peter Howe
At just 14, this month’s Don Deeble nominee, Smrithi Adepu, is already a force to be reckoned with in the badminton world.
Last year alone, she became the Australian under-15 champion as she claimed gold in singles and mixed doubles, earned the Australian national under-17 silver medal in singles, and secured the prestigious Victorian Open women’s singles title.
Adepu’s journey in badminton began at seven when she was encouraged by her father Preyatham to pick up a racquet. What started as a casual activity soon blossomed into that deep passion.
“It challenges and pushes me every time I step onto the court,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
“I was drawn to badminton because it’s fast-paced with lots of long and exciting rallies. Although it’s not one of the typical sports you think of, it really challenges you in every way possible.”
Adepu didn’t see results right away. Her passion and determination drove her to push herself harder, training five days a week, with her coach Krishna Neelam.
“My dad didn’t think I’d last doing this for more than a month or two. But 12 months later, I was thriving,” she recalls.
Not getting the results she was after, Adepu questioned whether she truly wanted to continue in 2019.
She soon won her first title, the under-11 state championship at the Western Suburbs Badminton Association. The trophy was big and her name was written on it.
Covid stopped many people’s dreams, but it only drove Adepu to push harder.
She turned the downtime into an opportunity to improve.
After online school each day, Adepu and her dad would do workouts or skills training, using a makeshift net to refine her technique and on weekends they would run.
By mid-2021, she began doing physical sessions in the mornings and in the afternoons and continued her training with new coach Nelson Oon on video call.
When competitions resumed in 2022, Adepu returned with even more drive.
At her first interstate tournament, she won the City of Adelaide Open where she won the A-grade women’s singles.
She also claimed gold as part of the Victorian team at the under-15 nationals team championships and earned two bronze medals at the under-15 individual national championships.
In addition, Adepu also secured gold in singles and silver in doubles at the under-13 national championships.
Her weekly training regimen consists of four mornings a week on the Maribyrnong Sports Academy courts. On top of that, she dedicates six hours to strength and conditioning in the college gym, trains three nights on weekdays and attends a state training session every alternate week.
To assist with this training load, MSA has helped with her approach to games and has provided plenty of support.
“My training adjusts, especially towards the end of the week if I have a tournament,” she said. “Sunday is my main rest day, which I use to recover and catch up on schoolwork and family time.”
Her training group is mainly older boys, which pushes her speed and endurance although it has her challenges.
She describes that some of her main strengths are her strong mindset while playing, and the ability to stay quick and consistent to endure long rallies and games.
So committed to her sport, Adepu spent nearly three months from November through January training in Thailand. She competed in a Junior International tournament at the under-19 level and remained there to train with some of the best junior players in girls’ singles.
“The heat was tough,” she said. “The Asian players train full-time, and their precision, skill, and attacking strength are on another level, and seeing them train puts a lot of things into perspective and motivates me to keep pushing harder to keep up with them.”
So, what does the future hold for Adepu?
She is already part of the Badminton Australia pathways squad, the Junior Falcons, and is focused on making the senior squad and competing in the Oceania Championships.
“My ultimate goal is to become a professional badminton player, represent Australia internationally and at the Olympics, prove myself on the World Stage and become one of the top players in the world.”
The Don Deeble Sports Star Award is sponsored by the Yarraville Club Cricket Club, Strathmore Community Bank, the Deer Park Club, Ascot Vale Sports and Trophies and The Star Weekly Newspapers.
To nominate a monthly winner or attend a dinner, contact swrsportsclub@gmail.com or sms 0408 556 631.
