Michał Kubiak

Michał Kubiak
Michał Kubiak
Personal information
Full name	Michał Jarosław Kubiak
Nickname	Misiek; Kubi
Born	23 February 1988 (age 36); Wałcz, Poland
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	87 kg (192 lb)
Spike	347 cm (137 in)
Block	310 cm (122 in)
Volleyball information
Position	Outside hitter
Current club	Shanghai Bright
Career
2002–2005; 2005–2006; 2006–2007; 2007–2008; 2008–2009; 2009–2010; 2010–2011; 2011–2014; 2014–2016; 2016–2023; 2018; 2023–	Maraton Świnoujście; Joker Piła; AZS Olsztyn; KS Poznań; Hapoel Kiryat Ata; Pallavolo Padova; AZS Politechnika Warszawska; Jastrzębski Węgiel; Halkbank Ankara; Panasonic Panthers; Beijing Volleyball; Shanghai Bright
National team
2011–2021	Poland (172)
Honours
Men's volleyball
Representing Poland
FIVB World Championship
FIVB World Cup
FIVB World League
FIVB Nations League
CEV European Championship

Michał Jarosław Kubiak (born 23 February 1988) is a Polish professional volleyball player who plays as an outside hitter for Shanghai Bright. He is a former member of the Poland national team, a participant in the Olympic Games (London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020), two–time World Champion (2014, 2018), and the 2012 World League winner.

Personal life

Michał Kubiak was born in Wałcz, Poland. He has an older brother Błażej, who is also a volleyball player. He is married to Monika. On 23 February 2014 (Kubiak's 26th birthday) their daughter Pola was born. They also have a second child.

Career

Before his career as an indoor volleyball player, Michał Kubiak played beach volleyball with Zbigniew Bartman. They won a gold medal at the European U18 Championship in 2004 and a silver medal at the World U18 Championship,^[1] also in 2004. Both Kubiak and Bartman gave up playing beach volleyball.

Club

Kubiak made his debut in the Polish volleyball league during the 2005/2006 season, and He played for three Polish clubs before moving to foreign leagues. In the 2008/2009 season, he played for Israeli club Hapoel Kiryat Ata. His career accelerated after good performances in the B squad of the Polish national team. After that he moved to Italian Serie A2 Volley Padwa. In the 2010/2011 season, he returned to the PlusLiga, specifically to AZS Politechnika Warszawska, where he played with Zbigniew Bartman again. He wanted to leave the Warsaw club in 2011, but the club stated that their contract was still valid and filed a lawsuit.^[2] Finally, Kubiak moved to Jastrzębski Węgiel. With this club, he won a silver medal in the World Club Championship 2011. In 2012/2013 season he won a bronze medal in the Polish Championships. In 2013/2014 the club advanced to the Final Four of the Champions League in Ankara and after defeating Zenit Kazan won the bronze medal.^[3]^[4] His team beat ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle in the last matches in the fight for a medal. Jastrzębski Węgiel, including Kubiak, ended the season with a second bronze in the Polish Championships.^[5] In July 2014, a year before his contract was due to end, Kubiak requested an early termination. The club agreed, and Kubiak was able to play for the Turkish club Halkbank Ankara for the season 2014/2015.^[6] Kubiak agreed with Jastrzębski Węgiel that after the end of the contract in Turkey, he would return to the Polish club.^[7] On 29 March 2015 he won the Turkish Cup with his team Halkbank Ankara. In the final match, his team beat Arkas Izmir 3-0 and Kubiak scored 11 points.^[8] After one season in Japan with the Panasonic Panthers, he renewed his contract until the end of the 2018/2019 season.^[9]

Michal Kubiak left Panasonic Panthers after 2022/23 season. He spent a total of 7 years with the team. Panasonic Panthers praised him that he not only played at a world-class level but also brought a great attitude towards games and practices that inspired the team. ^[10]

National team

Kubiak was first selected to represent the Polish national team by coach Andrea Anastasi in 2011. With the Polish team, he won three medals in 2011 - silver at the World Cup^[11] and two bronzes at the World League^[12] and the European Championship.^[13] He was a gold medalist at the World League 2012 in Sofia, Bulgaria.^[14]^[15] On 16 August 2014 he was selected to the Polish squad at the World Championship held in Poland.^[16]^[17] On 21 September 2014 Poland won the title of World Champion 2014.^[18]^[19]^[20] On 27 October 2014 he received a state award granted by the Polish President Bronisław Komorowski, the Gold Cross of Merit for outstanding sports achievements and worldwide promotion of Poland.^[21]

In November 2015 he was nominated for Polish Sports Personality of the Year by the Plebiscite of Przegląd Sportowy.^[22] He took 5th place in the list of 2015 Polish Sports Personality of the Year.

On 30 September 2018 Poland achieved title of the 2018 World Champion.^[23] Poland beat Brazil in the final 3-0 and defended the title from 2014. Kubiak received an individual award for the Best Outside Spiker and he was one of the main players in the team.^[24]

Controversies

In 2019, he made a comment against the Iranian people that led to his suspension by FIVB for six games. He said referring to the people of Iran: "The Iranians think they are great and the best and we are the worst. But I believe that they are fatal, malicious and damned people. For me, this nation doesn’t exist, even though they proudly call themselves Persians, not Arabs. Sometimes we have to play with them, but for me, they don’t exist."[1][2] In response, Iran national volleyball team head coach, Igor Kolakovic addressed Kubiak in an instagram post: “Dear Michal Kubiak, you are the great volleyball player, but you have the right to make a mistake. Come to Iran, please, to see how wonderful people live here.” "[3]

Honours

Club

FIVB Club World Championship
- Doha 2011 – with Jastrzębski Węgiel
AVC Asian Club Championship
- Taipei 2019 – with Panasonic Panthers
Domestic
- 2014–15 Turkish SuperCup, with Halkbank Ankara
- 2014–15 Turkish Cup, with Halkbank Ankara
- 2015–16 Turkish SuperCup, with Halkbank Ankara
- 2015–16 Turkish Championship, with Halkbank Ankara
- 2017–18 Emperor's Cup, with Panasonic Panthers
- 2017–18 Japanese Championship, with Panasonic Panthers
- 2018–19 Japanese Championship, with Panasonic Panthers

Youth national team

Beach volleyball
- 2004 CEV U18 European Championship, with Zbigniew Bartman
- 2004 FIVB U19 World Championship, with Zbigniew Bartman

Individual awards

2014: Polish Cup – Best opposite spiker
2015: FIVB World League – Best outside spiker
2016: Turkish Championship – Most valuable player
2018: Japanese Championship – Most valuable player
2018: FIVB World Championship – Best outside spiker
2019: Japanese Championship – Most valuable player
2019: AVC Asian Club Championship – Best outside spiker
2021: FIVB Nations League – Best outside spiker

State awards

2014: Gold Cross of Merit^[25]
2018: Knight's Cross of Polonia Restituta^[26]

Statistics

2010–11 PlusLiga – Best server (49 aces)

References

^ Men's U18 Event 2004 Results - fivb.org - 12-09-2004
^ Stanowisko AZS PW w sprawie Michała Kubiaka Archived 2014-10-30 at the Wayback Machine - plusliga.pl - 04-10-2011
^ JASTRZEBSKI edge former champions Zenit to strike first CL medal - zenit-kazan.com - 23-03-2014
^ Jastrzębski Węgiel trzecią siłą w Europie. Mamy brązowy medal Ligi Mistrzów!!! Archived 2014-10-31 at the Wayback Machine - jastrzebskiwegiel.pl - 23-03-2014
^ PlusLiga: Brązowe Jastrzębie - przegladsportowy.pl - 28-04-2014
^ Michał Kubiak przenosi się do Turcji! Archived 2014-07-15 at the Wayback Machine - s-w-o.pl - 04-07-2014
^ Dziękujemy i czekamy na powrót Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine - jastrzebskiwegiel.pl - 04-07-2014
^ TURKISH CUP M: HalkBank clinched the trophy! - worldofvolley.com - 29-03-2015
^ Michał Kubiak przedłużył kontrakt z Panasonic Panthers! - s-w-o.pl - 06-03-2017
^ "クビアクミハウ選手退団のお知らせ | ニュース | パンサーズ | パナソニックスポーツ | Panasonic". パナソニックのバレーボールチーム、パナソニックパンサーズ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-06-28.
^ Poland shoot up World Rankings on back of World Cup silver - fivb.org - 06-12-2011
^ 2011 FIVB Volleyball World League Final Report - fivb.org - 10-07-2011
^ Bartosz Kurek is the man of the day as Poland strikes bronze at EuroVolley Archived 2014-09-24 at the Wayback Machine - cev.lu - 18-09-2011
^ Poland beat USA to claim first World League title - fivb.org - 08-07-2012
^ Poland wins historical gold at the 2012 World League - fivb.org - 08-07-2012
^ FIVB Mistrzostwa świata w piłce siatkowej mężczyzn Polska 2014. Trener Antiga ogłosił skład - plusliga.pl - 17-08-2014
^ Polish team named for the FIVB Men's World Championship Poland 2014 - fivb.org - 17-08-2014
^ Poland win second World Championship title at home - fivb.org - 21-09-2014
^ Poland put an end to the reign of Brazil - fivb.org - 21-09-2014
^ FIVB MŚ Polska 2014: Polska ze złotym medalem - plusliga.pl - 21-09-2014
^ "Dziękuję za chwile wzruszenia i dumy" Archived 2014-10-27 at the Wayback Machine - prezydent.pl - 27-10-2014
^ Michał Kubiak nominowany w 81. Plebiscycie „Przeglądu Sportowego” na 10 Najlepszych Sportowców Polski 2015 - plisliga.pl - 26-11-2015
^ "Poland triumph over Brazil to retain World title for years more years". FIVB. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
^ "Kurek MVP mistrzostw świata! Nagrody indywidualne dla Kubiaka, Nowakowskiego i Zatorskiego!". Dziennik. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
^ Postanowienie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 23 października 2014 r. o nadaniu orderów i odznaczeń – isap.sejm.gov.pl – 23-10-2014
^ "Odznaczenia dla Mistrzów Świata w Piłce Siatkowej Mężczyzn 2018". prezydent.pl (in Polish). 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.

External links

Player profile at the European Volleyball Confederation
Player profile at Olympics.com
Player profile at Olympedia
Player profile at LegaVolley.it (in Italian)
Player profile at PlusLiga.pl (in Polish)
Player profile at Volleybox.net

Awards
Preceded by Wilfredo León Todor Aleksiev	Best Outside Spiker of FIVB Club World Championship 2016 ex aequo Wilfredo León	Succeeded by Wilfredo León Yoandy Leal
Preceded by Bartosz Bednorz Dmitry Volkov Egor Kliuka	Best Outside Spiker of FIVB Nations League Rimini 2021 (with Yoandy Leal)	Succeeded by Trévor Clévenot Earvin N'Gapeth