Former national handball coach Petre Ivanescu died at the age of 85. Ivanescu looked after the German national team from 1987 to 1989. As a player, he was twice world champion (1961 and 1964) and 13 times Romanian champion. Ivanescu came to Germany in 1966 and enjoyed great success as a coach here. He secured three German championship titles and four cup wins with VfL Gummersbach and Tusem Essen in the 1980s and 1990s. He also won the European Cup with Gummersbach in 1983. “He was an excellent professional with a pronounced handball expertise. A person of absolute respect,” said his former Gummersbach player Heiner Brand, world champion in 1978. Handball national coach Alfred Gislason, who played under Ivanescu in Essen from 1983 to 1988, also paid tribute to him Deceased: “A fantastic coach, without a doubt. Petre Ivanescu has shaped Tusem Essen into a top team in Europe.”