Say what now haters?
Bartosz Kurek finally shut down his critics after leading Poland to defend their World Championship crown yesterday by demolishing Brazil in straight sets. The 30 year old was also named as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. His teammate, Michal Kubiak, was also part of The Dream Team as one of the Best Outside Hitters.
Kurek scored 24 points in the gold medal match and was nearly unstoppable. The Polish star also had the pleasure to score the final point of the championship match witnessed by more than 12,000 people.
He also led his team with 29 points against Matt Anderson & Team USA in their semifinal match. In the same match, Kurek played one of the best matches of his careers in recent years.
After becoming a world champion, he shared a few humbling words at the press conference.
“I only care about our victory, and about this medal around my neck. We played great. We played better than any other team. We are proud, as we know our victory was well deserved.”
In case you didn’t know, Kurek will play professionally for Polish team Stocznia Szczecin this coming season. Other notable stars on the team are former Polish national team setter Lukasz Zygadlo, Belgian middle blocker Simon Van De Voorde, Bulgarian spiker Matey Kaziyski and Canadian outside hitter Nick Hoag.
Kurek becomes the second Polish player to win the MVP Award. The first one was Mariusz Wlazly when Poland won their first World crown four years ago.
2018 FIVB World Championship Dream Team:
MVP: Bartosz Kurek (POL)
Outside Hitters: Michal Kubiak (POL) & Douglas Souza (BRA)
Middle Blockers: Lucas Saatkamp (BRA) & Piotr Nowakoswski (POL)
Opposite: Matt Anderson (USA)
Setter: Micah Christenson (USA)
Libero: Pawel Zatorski (POL)
List of World Championship MVPs since the introduction of the award in 1986:
1986: Philippe Blain (France)
1990: Andrea Luchetta (Italy)
1994: Lorenzo Bernardi (Italy)
1998: Rafael Pascual (Spain)
2002: Marcos Milinkovic (Argentina)
2006: Gilberto ‘Giba’ Godoy Filho (Brazil)
2010: Murilo Endres (Brazil)
2014: Mariusz Wlazly (Poland)
2018: Bartosz Kure (Poland)
In case you didn’t know, Kurek got cut from the final roster for the World Championship which Poland hosted. He was not in the best shape of his career and Polish volleball fans somewhat found him as an unreliable athlete compare to Wlazly. A lot of volleyball critics doubted his mental strength in matches that were very intense and would require him to step up. He may have failed at times and never met expectations of others but that’s all behind him now.
Kurek was a totally different athlete in the Final 6 of the 2018 World Championship. He played really well and he truly deserved the MVP Award.
To sum up his journey in Turin with Poland, he was a man on a mission.
Mission Accomplished.
FIVB IMAGES