‘How can an Indian defeat Aparna Popat?’ This was the question that was on every badminton fan’s lips right through the late 1990s and for a part of the next decade. After all, she remained undefeated over nine National Championships. However, outside of the National Championships, there was a stunning upset on the international circuit. Saina Nehwal, a 15-year-old girl from Hyderabad, defeated Aparna to win the Asian Satellite tournament, in New Delhi, in 2005.
It wasn’t just the victory, but the manner of that triumph – 11-8, 11-6 – which signalled the passing of the baton in Indian badminton. Although Saina was already talked about as a prodigy, this victory was unexpected. Before that loss to Saina, the last Indian to beat Aparna was Jwala Gutta, somewhere in 2001.
Aparna had also defeated Saina in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 (11-3, 11-4 in the final) National Championships. But those harsh lessons seemed to have motivated Saina to go one step further. Just pore through the storehouse of memories via newspapers and you might observe that Aparna perhaps made more than enough errors. Although she put on a fine display of badminton at the net, Aparna couldn’t match her much younger compatriot’s speed.
Pullela Gopichand had said this about his protege to Hindu Publication, “I think Saina made Aparna move a lot more today than the other girls had managed in the past. Aparna was good at the net but lacked the speed today to match Saina.”
Meanwhile, Saina showed her humility despite overcoming her experienced opponent. “She is a great player and the confidence which I have gained from beating her should help me play more consistently at this level.”
By then, this was turning out to be an interesting rivalry – a budding star versus a veteran. Will Aparna pull one back against Saina before drawing curtains on her fine career? Can Saina now dominate Aparna? The answer to those questions soon arrived in the 2005-06 National Championships held in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
In the summit clash of the tournament, the pressure was more on Aparna, as she had something to prove after her recent loss. For Saina, it was perhaps just one more game to showcase her skills. Even during the course of the tournament, it seemed as if Aparna was struggling a tad with the shuttle travelling faster through the air.
In the final shown on DD Sports, Aparna took a 5-2 lead, although she looked a touch nervous. Saina, however, was more than equal to the task as she soon raced away to a 10-8 lead, with the game point on the horizon. The vague memory says it was a drop shot that helped Aparna to pull one back and she also levelled it at 10-10. Around that juncture, Saina cracked one smash. Ultimately, Aparna grabbed the first game, 13-11. In the second game, Aparna took a commanding lead and never looked back, winning the match, 13-11, 11-3.
The first game of the match, however, had provided glimpses of the future and the past. A potential future great with an unremitting self-belief to beat the best and a veteran not willing to give up, despite nursing a long-term wrist problem. In a few months’ time, at the tender age of 16, Saina ended up achieving something that seemed improbable in Indian sport – A woman badminton player holding a four-star Philippines Open trophy.
In 2026, in the backdrop of Indian badminton players winning medals at the Worlds and Olympics, it might seem like a rather insignificant achievement. Some 20 years ago, the scene was different, as no Indian woman had reached that far at the international level. Saina had branched out the badminton root laid by Aparna, and in turn inspired many young girls to dream big.
A couple of decades later, when Saina hung up her spiked boots, all those evocative memories from the early part of her career came gushing forth. And a small part of those flashbacks was an underrated rivalry with Aparna Popat.
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