Michał Kubiak


Michał Jarosław Kubiak is a Polish professional volleyball player who plays as an outside hitter for Shanghai Bright. He is a former member of the Poland men's national [volleyball team|Poland national team], a participant in the Olympic Games, two–time World Champion, and the 2012 [FIVB Volleyball World League|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 their daughter Pola was born. They also have a second child.
File:Kubiak i Bartman.jpg|thumb|Michał Kubiak and Zbigniew Bartman during the match at Spodek, Katowice.
File:Żygadło, Zagumny, Kubiak.jpg|thumb|Kubiak, Łukasz Żygadło and Paweł Zagumny during the match Poland – USA.

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, 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. 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. 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. 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. Kubiak agreed with Jastrzębski Węgiel that after the end of the contract in Turkey, he would return to the Polish club. 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. After one season in Japan with the Panasonic Panthers, he renewed his contract until the end of the 2018/2019 season.
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.

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 and two bronzes at the World League and the European Championship. He was a gold medalist at the World League 2012 in Sofia, Bulgaria. On 16 August 2014 he was selected to the Polish squad at the World Championship held in Poland. On 21 September 2014 Poland won the title of World Champion 2014. 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.
In November 2015 he was nominated for Polish Sports Personality of the Year by the Plebiscite of Przegląd Sportowy. 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. 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.

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."
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.” "

Honours

Club