Press release

Tokyo, Japan, June 4, 2012 - Serbia brothers Nikola and Uros Kovacevic are two players who know relatively a lot about how to deal with having another family member on the court.

The brothers are raised in a true volleyball family in Serbia, with a mother and father passionate volleyball players.

Nineteen year-old Uros has a big role model in his brother Nikola, who, 10 year’s older, is already a key member of the Serbia team having ranked as the best receiver in the European Championship last year in Vienna.

"Everything Uros knows about Volleyball up till now I taught him," Nikola said with a teasing smile.

Uros, an outside hitter in the national team since 2010 confirmed the fact. "I always ask his advice what I need to do to improve on the volleyball court".

Uros Kovacevic despite his young age is already considered as one of the most promising volleyball players in Serbia. In 2011, Kovacevic won four medals: gold with Serbia’s youth team in the European and World Championships, a bronze medal with the Serbian junior team in the World Championship and a gold medal with the senior men's team in the European Championship. Kovacevic was proclaimed the MVP of the World Championship in Argentina and the MVP, Best Scorer and Best Spiker at the European Championship in Turkey and was given the honour of receiving the Serbian Olympic Committee’s Best Young Athlete award.

The Kovacevic brothers has been many times in Japan for competition and besides the hard training and demanding matches they enjoy themselves. "We have been to Disneyworld and seen all that already," Uros explained. However, finishing eighth in the FIVB World Cup last December was a disappointment that made them face this qualification process in Tokyo.

"I was already in Beijing 2008 so I know what it takes to get there. It's every true sportsman's highest dream to be participating in an Olympic Game," Nikola said. "London is our destiny," declared the two brothers at the same time; "And we will get there for sure, that is our aim," Uros said with an undoubted self-confidence.

Monday is the second of two successive rest days in the FIVB Men´s World Olympic Qualification Tournament. On Tuesday the tournament’s highest ranked Asian team Australia will face the second ranked team in the continent Iran, while Puerto Rico will meet Venezuela. China meet European champions Serbia and Japan take on Korea.