Harpal Singh Bedi

New Delhi: The Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) on Friday appointed Serbia’s Dragan Mihailovic as new the Head Coach of the National team.

The VFI also named Pryemyslaw Gaszyoski and Valadimir Radosevic as the team’s Physio Trainer and Physiotherapist respectively.

Apart from the men’s national team, the three will also be working closely with the Men’s U-23 team and other junior teams representing India. The trio has been appointed for five months and will work with the team for the Asian Championships scheduled to be held in Iran in September this year.

Mihailovic has more than 25 years of experience as a coach and has won several medals as an assistant coach with Serbia at the World Championships, European Championships as well as Olympics.

He also comes with the experience of having worked with clubs like Orestiada and Panathinaikos.

Expressing his delight on his appointment as the Indian coach, the Serbian said, “It gives me great pleasure to be associated with the Indian national team. There is immense talent here and I am excited to work with them. I am also excited to be working with Pryemyslaw and Valadimir and will look to deliver results and take Indian Volleyball to greater heights during our time here.”

According to VFI Secretary General Ramavtar Jakhar the appointments have been made with focus on an Olympic berth in the future. “We have tried to put together a great support staff who can work closely with the team to help them get closer to the Olympic dream.

“While that remains the long term goal, we also hope to secure an Asian Games medal and participate in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League in near future.”