Training under the legendary Prakash Padukone, a former All-England champion, she built up her fitness and learned techniques to be more competitive at the international level.

Yearning to expand her learning, in 2002 she shifted to the Sports Authority of India training centre at Kengeri, Bangalore where she learnt the nuances of the game under coach Gangula Prasad.

[1] After 17 years of professional badminton, Popat retired from the game in 2006 after suffering a wrist injury that remained undiagnosed.

Aparna Popat took up the coaching role for the Mumbai Masters in the first edition of the Indian Badminton League.

She was one of seventeen participants from around the world—and the lone Indian—to be selected for the Global Sports Mentoring Programme, an initiative promoted by then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and ESPN.