Aihan Omer (born June 27, 1960) is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

team handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

player and coach. Known for his performances with various clubs, he trained the national men's team between 1994 and 2003, and again from 2007.

Biography

Born into an ethnic Crimean Tatar family Laurenţiu Georgescu
"'Reşiţa, casa mea'"
, in ''

Adevărul ''Adevărul'' (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published dur ...

'', May 1, 2007 (although he is commonly believed to be a Turk) Octavian Stancioiu
"Aur în Valea Domanului"
, at Sport365.ro, May 2, 2007 in

Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...

, he began playing handball at the age of twelve, when he trained with the Constanța School Club. Oana Gurgu
"Interviu cu Aihan Omer"
, at Sport365.ro, September 7, 2006 He then played professionally for

Dinamo Bucharest A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterinbu ...

, winning the

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

edition of 1984–1985, for Carpați

Mârșa Mârșa is a commune located in north-west Giurgiu County, Muntenia, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Mârșa. History The etymology is lost in time. The Romanian word ''mârșă'', meaning "lure" or "bait", has probably nothing to ...

(1986–1988), and for Hidrotehnica Constanţa (1988–1990), promoting to the First League with the latter (1989). During the period, he also made 60 appearances on the national team. Omer began his career as a coach in 1990, being originally employed by the School Club in

Medgidia Medgidia ( or ; historical Turkish names: ''Karasu'' or ''Carasu'', ''Mecidiye'' or ''Megidie'') is a city in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, south-eastern Romania. History Archaeological findings show that Dobruja was inhabited since th ...

, and later by

Cimentul Medgidia Clubul Sportiv Medgidia, commonly known as CS Medgidia, or simply as Medgidia, is a Romanian sports club from Medgidia, Constanța County, Romania, founded in 1952. Its professional football club currently play in the Liga III. Apart from foo ...

(which he promoted to the Second Division in 1993). In addition to becoming national team coach in 1994, he was employed by Dacia Piteşti (1995–1998). In 1999, Omer moved to

Minaur Baia Mare Club Sportiv Minaur Baia Mare, commonly known as CS Minaur Baia Mare, Minaur Baia Mare or simply as Minaur, is a Romanian sports society from Baia Mare, Romania, founded in 1974 by Lascăr Pană, after he took over the old entity (''Minerul'') in ...

, where he registered his first major success, winning both the Championship and National Cup later in the same year. He moved on to Fibrex Piatra Neamţ, repeating the performance in 2001–2002 and 2002–2003, before joining

HCM Constanța HCM may refer to: * Eyl Airport, in Puntland, Somalia * Halifax Conservatory of Music, in Canada * Harrow Central Mosque, in England * Hausdorff Center for Mathematics, in Bonn, Germany * Highway Capacity Manual * Hierarchical Clustering Method ( ...

. With the latter, Omer won the Championship in 2004 and 2006, as well as the Cup in 2005 and 2006; additionally, he reached the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup and the European Cup (in 2004 and 2006 respectively). He moved on to become coach of UCM Reşiţa, being generally credited with the team's subsequent successes. He coached the team to victory in the 2007 Challenge Cup, when they beat

Drammen HK Drammen HK is a team handball club from Drammen, Norway. Currently, Drammen HK competes in the Norwegian First League of Handball. The club was founded on March 3, 1992. The foundation was the result of a long going project where handball cl ...

on their home ground in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. In autumn 2007, he was appointed coach of the national handball team, with the aim of qualifying for the

2009 World Men's Handball Championship The 2009 World Men's Handball Championship (21st tournament) took place in Croatia from 16 January to 1 February, in the cities of Split, Zadar, Osijek, Varaždin, Poreč, Zagreb and Pula. Croatia was selected from a group of four potential hos ...

to be held in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. Aihan Omer is married to Nurgian, and has two children; his son Erkan is also a handball player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omer, Aihan Sportspeople from Constanța CS Dinamo București (men's handball) players Romanian Muslims Romanian people of Crimean Tatar descent 1960 births Living people Romanian male handball players