No physio, no nutritionist, no problem for unsung heroes

CHENNAI : Much before Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu captured the imaginations of Indian badminton lovers, it was Aparna Popat who bewitched plenty with her finesse with the racquet. Her ideology was simple: improve every day, session by session, focussing on the present rather than stressing on the future. This simple yet hard-to-practice process saw her dominate the national circuit, winning a record-equalling nine titles (1997-2006).

“The best I can say is I really loved to play. Everything else (medals, records) that happened, was a big bonus. I’m just grateful for it. The passion to play for the country made us wake up every morning and train. It was really that simple,” Popat says, trying to reflect on her career that saw success and later paved the way for the current crop to dream big.

Talking about success, the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur is engraved in Aparna’s memory, a journey that saw her clinch a silver medal. “We always knew we had a chance to win a medal but nobody was seriously aware of our talent,” Aparna, who is based in Mumbai, recalls. “We had trained very hard. We had two team championships, unlike what it is today.

We had a large contingent, we had a lot of fun.”The facilities might have been archaic but there was no short of dedication on their part. “We had a camp and our preparation was alright. But in terms of knowing the opponents, strategy, video-analysis, we had no such privileges. We just trained on our own and faced whoever came across the net. We had no physio or a nutritionist.”

The fact that no other Indian female shuttler had won an individual medal in the event had added weight to Aparna’s feat. “To get the opportunity to represent the country and win an individual medal was an euphoric feeling. The fact that the team did well had made it even better.”For a lot of athletes today, a medal in an event of CWG’s stature could be a life-changer. Apart from glory, a medal could fetch them stable jobs and quick fortune with felicitations from all quarters. But for Aparna, if these things were mild prior to the Games, they did not change drastically afterwards either. “There were a few felicitations. But it was not like what it is now. I can’t honestly remember much, mainly because it was just one or two, maybe.” 

Lack of interest was never a deterrent for Aparna as she went on to represent India in two more Games (2002, 2006) and was also part of the Olympics twice. Infinite love for the sport helped her soldier on before she retired in 2006. “We didn’t have any planning or support for the Olympics. So qualifying itself was a massive deal. Unfortunately, that was as far as you could see. From whatever I could see, I achieved most of it.” What Aparna saw has certainly fuelled plenty of current stars achieve greater heights.