Saina has pizza, pasta right under Gopi's nose

HYDERABAD: Saina Nehwal said right after winning bronze that she would celebrate by indulging herself. True to her word, she and her team feasted on loads of fatty food, with Saina herself gorging on pizza, pasta and junk food right in the presence of coach Pullela Gopichand!
Gopichand, a strict disciplinarian who had banned all junk food from Saina's diet, decided a bit of leeway wasn't unwarranted."No restrictions now. It was a time to enjoy. I also ate a lot of pizza," Gopi told TOI. In between, Saina kept receiving, and occasionally replying to, the thousands of congratulatory messages which poured in. The party ended at 10 pm.
"We were too tired and wanted to sleep. It was a good night's sleep. The victory slowly started sinking in. Initially, I did not enjoy the way I had won, but I can't help it. Maybe my name was written on the medal. After the medal ceremony I was thrilled. I thought I had made it, finally," Saina said.
She received a call at about 8.50 am in the morning from her coach. "Bhaiya, I just got up. I'll soon freshen up. Please wait for me," Saina told coach Gopi. The duo, along with physio Kiran, Kashyap and the rest of the coaching staff, then went for breakfast. Saina had baked beans and an omelette, a rarity for her, and then it was time to face the media.
That session, which started at about 9:30 am, ended at about 1:30 pm. A tired Saina and Gopi came back to the hotel. While the rest of the team had some light food and were in a hurry to watch the mouthwatering men's singles final between eventual champion Lin Dan and his challenger Lee Chong Wei, Saina preferred to order lunch in her room.
At about 3.40 pm it was time to go shopping to Bond street. "We get very good items here. I think I may take about four hours to finish. I told my coach not to wait for me for dinner. At least for a few days he will not be controlling me. I want to make the most of it during this period," Saina said.
Gopi didn't react to Chinese head coach Li Yongbo's accusations against Danish referee Torsten Berg of causing injury to Saina's opponent Wang Xin.
Yongbo had said the referee did not allow the floor to be swept clean even after Xin showed him some sweat on the court.