The truth about Bartosz Kurek's injury. Coach Nikola Grbić revealed the inside story

There is no doubt that Bartosz Kurek is a living legend of Polish volleyball. The captain of the national team in the past season (i.e. 2024) reached for the coveted Olympic medal. It ended with a runner-up finish, but it is clear that "Kuraś" still has ambitions for more. Will the experienced attacker play at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles? For now, unfortunately, he started the 2025 national team season with an injury.

Bartosz Kurek injured. Nikola Grbić on the backstage of the captain's problems

"Kuraś" along with other, more experienced volleyball players - including Tomasz Fornal, Wilfredo Leon, Jakub Kochanowski - joined the Polish national team training camp in Spała a bit later, having a break after the club season. The plan of the Polish coach was for this more experienced group to be ready to take on the challenge in the last intercontinental tournament VNL 2025.

And indeed, most of the previously mentioned players will appear in national team colours. However, Kurek will be absent , as he has been ruled out by a back injury. The coach of the Poles told Agnieszka Niedziałek from Sport.pl about the background of the captain's injury. As it turns out, Kurek's problems are quite serious.

- I don't want to say that he is worn out, but - obviously - his body has been heavily exploited for many years. Sooner or later you pay the price for it. It's not like a situation like a sprained ankle where you come back after two weeks. The kind of problems that "Kuraś" is experiencing now appear suddenly after many years of playing. For me, his health is key now. In terms of our preparations, he has to be physically fit and I hope he will be. I hope that after this therapy he will be healthy, come back to us and prepare for the World Championships. But we have to be aware that in the case of any player who is not physically fit, nothing can be ruled out. We are constantly monitoring the situation - assessed Grbić.

It is known for sure that Kurek will not play in the VNL 2025 competition.

VNL 2025: Poles are runners-up in the table. Now it's time for Ergo Arena!

After eight matches played in two tournaments of the ongoing Nations League, the Poles recorded six victories. The Polish national team in Xi'an, China, during their first tournament, VNL 2025, won 3:1 against the Netherlands, 3:1 against Japan, 3:0 against Turkey and 3:0 against Serbia. Four matches, four victories and a full set of points - this gave the position of the leaders of the Nations League for the white and red team of coach Grbić.

Things were a bit worse during the tournament in Chicago. The Poles started with a 2:3 defeat to the world champions Italy, then beat the Canadians 3:2, won 3:0 against the Americans and recorded their second defeat, 1:3 against Brazil. Ultimately, after two tournaments, Poland is the runner-up in the VNL 2025 table. Brazil is in the lead with one more victory than the Poles. On the other hand, third-placed Italy has the same number of victories as Poland.

The last tournament of the intercontinental phase during VNL 2025 will be a home game for the Poles. Coach Grbić's team will present itself at the Tri-City Ergo Arena during the tournament on July 16-20.

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