IHF First player to win three IHF Men's World Championship ...

One of the few players who have won three IHF Men’s World Championship titles, Cornel Oțelea, has passed away at the age of 84 years old.

Oțelea was part of the teams which dominated the competition in 1961, 1964 and 1970, becoming the first player to win three IHF Men’s World Championship titles in the history of the competition.

At the 1967 IHF Men’s World Championsip, Oțelea won the bronze, being one of the few players in history to secure four medals in the world handball flagship competition, while also clinching a silver medal at the 1959 IHF World Men's Field Handball Championship.

He was also a member of the Steaua București team which won the European Champions Cup in 1968, a competition he also won after he switched to a coaching career in 1977. As a coach, he also led Romania to their last medal in history at the IHF Men’s World Championship, a bronze in 1990.

Oțelea also led the Romania women’s senior national team at the 2003 IHF Women’s World Championship, when the European side finished 10th.

On behalf of the entire IHF handball family, the IHF President, Dr Hassan Moustafa, would like to express his deepest condolences to the family and friends of Cornel Oțelea and all of those who played alongside him and were coached by him during his illustrious career.