Michał Kubiak

Michał Kubiak (born 23 February 1988) is a Polish volleyball player, a member of Polish national team and Japanese club Panasonic Panthers, a participant of the Olympic Games (London 2012, Rio 2016), 2014 World Champion, a gold medalist of the 2012 World League, silver medalist of the 2011 World Cup, bronze medalist of the 2011 European Championship and the 2011 World League, 2016 Turkish Champion.

Personal life

Michał Kubiak was born in Wałcz, Poland. He has an older brother Błażej, who is also a volleyball player. On February 23, 2014 (Kubiak's 26th birthday) his fiancée Monika gave birth to their daughter - Pola.

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 U-18 Championship in 2004 and a silver medal at the World U-18 Championship, also in 2004. Both Kubiak and Bartman gave up playing beach volleyball.

Clubs

Kubiak made his debut in the Polish volleyball league during the season 2005/2006. He played in three Polish clubs before moving to foreign leagues. In season 2008/2009, he played for Israeli club Hapoel Kiryat Ata. His career accelerated after a good performances in the B squad of the Polish national team. After that he moved to Italian Serie A2 Volley Padwa. In season 2010/2011, he returned to 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 season 2012/3013 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 VC Zenit Kazan won the bronze medal. His team beat ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle in 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 will play for the Turkish club Halkbank Ankara from season 2014/2015. Kubiak agreed with Jastrzębski Węgiel, that after the end of the contract in Turkey, he will return to the Polish club. On March 29, 2015 he achieved Turkish Cup with his team Halkbank Ankara. In final match, his team beat Arkas Izmir 3-0 and Kubiak scored 11 points.

National team

Kubiak was first appointed to represent the Polish national team by coach Andrea Anastasi in 2011. With the Polish team, he won three medals in 2011 - silver at World Cup and two bronzes at World League and European Championship. He is a gold medalist of World League 2012 in Sofia, Bulgary. On August 16, 2014 was appointed to squad at World Championship held in Poland. On September 21, 2014 won a title of World Champion 2014. On October 27, 2014 received a state award granted by the Polish President Bronisław Komorowski - Gold Cross of Merit for outstanding sports achievements and to promote Polish in the world.

In November 2015 he was nominated to Polish Sportspersonality of the Year of Plebiscite of Przegląd Sportowy. He took 5th place in the list of 2015 Polish Sportspersonality of the Year.

Sporting achievements

Beach volleyball

• 2004 CEV U18 European Championship, with Zbigniew Bartman
• 2004 FIVB U19 World Championship, with Zbigniew Bartman

Clubs

CEV Champions League

• 2013/2014 - with Jastrzębski Węgiel

FIVB Club World Championship

• Qatar 2011 - with Jastrzębski Węgiel

National championships

• 2006/2007 Polish Championship, with AZS Olsztyn
• 2012/2013 Polish Championship, with Jastrzębski Węgiel
• 2013/2014 Polish Championship, with Jastrzębski Węgiel
• 2014/2015 Turkish SuperCup 2014, with Halkbank Ankara
• 2014/2015 Turkish Cup, with Halkbank Ankara
• 2014/2015 Turkish Championship, with Halkbank Ankara
• 2015/2016 Turkish SuperCup 2015, with Halkbank Ankara
• 2015/2016 Turkish Championship, with Halkbank Ankara

National team

• 2011 FIVB World League
• 2011 CEV European Championship
• 2011 FIVB World Cup
• 2012 FIVB World League
• 2014 FIVB World Championship
• 2015 FIVB World Cup

Individually

• 2013 Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner - Best Receiver
• 2014 Polish Cup - Best Spiker
• 2015 FIVB World League - Best Outside Spiker
• 2015 Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner - Most Valuable Player
• 2016 Polish Sportspersonality of the Year 2015 - 5th place
• 2016 Turkish League - Most Valuable Player
• 2016 Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner - Best Outside Spiker

State awards

• 2014 Gold Cross of Merit

• Postanowienie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 23 października 2014 r. o nadaniu orderów i odznaczeń - isap.sejm.gov.pl - 23-10-2014