Jean-Michel Saive - Wikipedia

Belgian table tennis player Jean-Michel Saive

Jean-Michel Saive (2013)
Personal information
Full name	Saive Jean-Michel
Born	(1969-11-17) 17 November 1969 (age 56)Liège, Belgium
Sport
Sport	Table tennis
Medal record Men's table tennis Representing  Belgium World Championships 1993 Gothenburg Singles 2001 Osaka Team World Cup 1994 Taipei Singles European Championships 1994 Birmingham Singles 1990 Gothenburg Mixed Doubles 1992 Stuttgart Singles 1994 Birmingham Doubles 2005 Aarhus Singles 2008 St-Petersburg Team

Jean-Michel Saive (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃miʃɛlsɛv]; born 17 November 1969) is a Belgian former professional table tennis player. Saive competed at seven consecutive Olympics between 1988 and 2012, and he was also a winner in singles at European Championship 1994.[1]

Personal life

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Born in Liège, Saive began playing as a small boy. His father was the tenth-ranked Belgian player, and his mother won the Belgian ladies' doubles championships when she was pregnant with him.

At the age of thirteen, Saive was the fourth-ranked Belgian player and joined the national team.

His younger brother Philippe Saive is also a table tennis player.

Career

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In 1985 Saive was ranked best player in Belgium, a place which he kept until 2011 without interruption. In 1994 he made it to world number one for 515 days (from 9 February 1994 to 8 June 1995 and from 26 March 1996 to 24 April 1996).

Jean-Michel Saive won a total of 130 medals (51 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze) in international singles tournaments.[2] Some of his important titles are:

• A European championship (1994) in Birmingham (United Kingdom)
• A Europe "Top 12" (1994) in Arezzo (Italy)
• Two European leagues with Belgium (1994 and 1995)
• Six European Championship Club Cups with his club La Villette Charleroi (1994, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004)
• Nineteen Belgian championships with his club La Villette Charleroi
• A victory at the World Pro Tour in 2001
• Two victories at the "Qatar Open" (1996 and 2002)

He was also individual world vice champion in 1993, finalist at the World Cup in 1994 and 2003, and he was finalist at the world championship for teams with Belgium in 2001.

He competed in seven consecutive Summer Olympic Games, from 1988, when table tennis became an official Olympic sport in Seoul, to 2012 in London. He was honored as the national flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics of 1996 and 2004. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 20 highest ranked ITTF players were to be selected for the Olympics. Saive expected to be selected as he was tied in 20th position together with the Swede Jörgen Persson and there was no rule to decide what to do in case of ties. The ITTF decided they needed to play an extra playoff to determine who got the last spot.[3] However, they refused to play as they agreed they should both get a ticket.[4] The ITTF then recalculated the rankings and placed Persson in 20th position and Saive in 21st.[5] Eventually, Saive did play an extra qualification tournament in Budapest, finishing third and thus qualified for his seventh successive Summer Olympics. Saive and Persson, along with Croatian Zoran Primorac, were the first table tennis players to compete at seven Olympics, having been at all games since the sport was introduced in 1988.

His successes made him the best Belgian table tennis player. He is also considered to be one of Belgium's most prolific athletes as he was elected as Sports Personality of the Year in 1991 and 1994. Jean-Michel Saive is known for his victories but also for his sportsmanship. He was awarded the UNESCO World Award of Fair Play in 1989.

On 4 December 2015, Saive officially announced his retirement as a player.[citation needed]

Saive was narrowly beaten in his first attempt to be elected President of the International Table Tennis Federation in May 2017.[6]

See also

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• List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games

References

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1. ^ "Profile". Table Tennis Guide.
2. ^ "ITTF_Database". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
3. ^ "Saive staat op één overwinning van Peking" (in Dutch). Sporza.be. 14 December 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
4. ^ "Saive en Persson weigeren te spelen" (in Dutch). Sporza.be. 15 December 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
5. ^ "Nekken de decimalen Jean-Michel Saive?" (in Dutch). Sporza.be. 5 January 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
6. ^ "Thomas Weikert elected ITTF President". ITTF. 31 May 2017.

External links

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Media related to Jean-Michel Saive at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Biography on Belgium's federal portal Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
• Saive retires

Jean-Michel Saive's Titles

v t e European table tennis men's singles champions 1958: Zoltán Berczik (HUN) 1960: Zoltán Berczik (HUN) 1962: Hans Alsér (SWE) 1964: Kjell Johansson (SWE) 1966: Kjell Johansson (SWE) 1968: Dragutin Šurbek (YUG) 1970: Hans Alsér (SWE) 1972: Stellan Bengtsson (SWE) 1974: Milan Orlowski (TCH) 1976: Jacques Secrétin (FRA) 1978: Gábor Gergely (HUN) 1980: John Hilton (ENG) 1982: Mikael Appelgren (SWE) 1984: Ulf Bengtsson (SWE) 1986: Jörgen Persson (SWE) 1988: Mikael Appelgren (SWE) 1990: Mikael Appelgren (SWE) 1992: Jörg Roßkopf (GER) 1994: Jean-Michel Saive (BEL) 1996: Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) 1998: Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) 2000: Peter Karlsson (SWE) 2002: Timo Boll (GER) 2003: Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) 2005: Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) 2007: Timo Boll (GER) 2008: Timo Boll (GER) 2009: Michael Maze (DEN) 2010: Timo Boll (GER) 2011: Timo Boll (GER) 2012: Timo Boll (GER) 2013: Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) 2015: Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) 2016: Emmanuel Lebesson (FRA) 2018: Timo Boll (GER) 2020: Timo Boll (GER) 2022: Dang Qiu (GER) 2024: Alexis Lebrun (FRA) v t e Europe Top-12/Top-16 table tennis men's singles champions 1971: István Jónyer (HUN) 1972: Antun Stipančić (YUG) 1973: Stellan Bengtsson (SWE) 1974: István Jónyer (HUN) 1975: Kjell Johansson (SWE) 1976: Dragutin Šurbek (YUG) 1977: Milan Orlowski (TCH) 1978: Gábor Gergely (HUN) 1979: Dragutin Šurbek (YUG) 1980: Stellan Bengtsson (SWE) 1981: Tibor Klampár (HUN) 1982: Mikael Appelgren (SWE) 1983: Milan Orlowski (TCH) 1984: Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) 1985: Andrzej Grubba (POL) 1986: Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) 1987: Desmond Douglas (ENG) 1988: Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) 1989: Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) 1990: Mikael Appelgren (SWE) 1991: Erik Lindh (SWE) 1992: Jörgen Persson (SWE) 1993: Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) 1994: Jean-Michel Saive (BEL) 1995: Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) 1996: Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) 1997: Jean-Philippe Gatien (FRA) 1998: Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) 1999: Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) 2000: Werner Schlager (AUT) 2001: Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) 2002: Timo Boll (GER) 2003: Timo Boll (GER) 2004: Michael Maze (DEN) 2005: Alexey Smirnov (RUS) 2006: Timo Boll (GER) 2007: Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) 2008: Werner Schlager (AUT) 2009: Timo Boll (GER) 2010: Timo Boll (GER) 2011: Kalinikos Kreanga (GRE) 2012: Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) 2014: Marcos Freitas (POR) 2015: Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) 2016: Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) 2017: Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) 2018: Timo Boll (GER) 2019: Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) 2020: Timo Boll (GER) 2021: Patrick Franziska (GER) 2022: Darko Jorgić (SLO) 2023: Darko Jorgić (SLO) 2024: Darko Jorgić (SLO) 2025: Alexis Lebrun (FRA)

v t e Belgian Sportsman of the Year
Men	1967 Ferdinand Bracke 1968 Serge Reding 1969–1974 Eddy Merckx 1975 Bruno Brokken 1976 Ivo Van Damme 1977 Michel Pollentier 1978 Raymond Ceulemans 1979–1980 Robert Van de Walle 1981 Freddy Maertens 1982 Jacky Ickx 1983 Eddy Annys 1984 Claude Criquielion 1985 Gaston Rahier & Vincent Rousseau 1986 William Van Dijck 1987 Georges Jobé 1988 Eric Geboers 1989 Thierry Boutsen 1990 Rudy Dhaenens 1991 Jean-Michel Saive 1992 Georges Jobé 1993 Vincent Rousseau 1994 Jean-Michel Saive 1995–1996 Fred Deburghgraeve 1997 Luc Van Lierde 1998 Fred Deburghgraeve 1999 Luc Van Lierde 2000 Joël Smets 2001–2004 Stefan Everts 2005 Tom Boonen 2006 Stefan Everts 2007 Tom Boonen 2008 Sven Nys 2009–2011 Philippe Gilbert 2012 Tom Boonen 2013 Frederik Van Lierde 2014 Thibaut Courtois 2015 Kevin De Bruyne 2016 Greg Van Avermaet 2017 David Goffin 2018 Eden Hazard 2019 Remco Evenepoel 2020–2021 Wout van Aert 2022–2025 Remco Evenepoel
Women	1975 Carine Verbauwen 1976–1977 Anne-Marie Pira 1978–1979 Carine Verbauwen 1980 Ingrid Berghmans 1981 Annie Lambrechts 1982–1986 Ingrid Berghmans 1987 Ingrid Lempereur 1988–1989 Ingrid Berghmans 1990–1991 Sabine Appelmans 1992 Annelies Bredael 1993 Gella Vandecaveye 1994–1995 Brigitte Becue 1996 Ulla Werbrouck 1997 Gella Vandecaveye 1998 Dominique Monami 1999–2002 Kim Clijsters 2003–2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne 2005 Kim Clijsters 2006–2007 Justine Henin-Hardenne 2008 Tia Hellebaut 2009–2011 Kim Clijsters 2012 Evi Van Acker 2013 Kirsten Flipkens 2014 Nafissatou Thiam 2015 Delfine Persoon 2016–2017 Nafissatou Thiam 2018–2019 Nina Derwael 2020 Emma Meesseman 2021 Nina Derwael 2022 Nafissatou Thiam 2023 Lotte Kopecky 2024 Nafissatou Thiam 2025 Emma Meesseman
Team	1997 Noliko Maaseik 1998 Motocross team 1999 Davis Cup team 2000 Anderlecht 2001 Fed Cup team 2002 La Villette 2003 Motocross team 2004 Women's 4×100 metres relay 2005 Men's under-21 football team 2006 Fed Cup team 2007–2008 Women's 4×100 metres relay 2009–2011 Belgian men's 4 × 400 metres relay team 2012 Men's field hockey team 2013–2014 Men's football team 2015 Davis Cup team 2016 Men's field hockey team 2017 Davis Cup team 2018–2019 Men's field hockey team 2020 Women's basketball team 2021 Men's field hockey team 2022 Belgian men's 4 × 400 metres relay team 2023 Women's basketball team 2024 Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe 2025 Women's basketball team
Talent	1998 Kim Clijsters 1999 Bart Wellens 2000 Bart Aernouts 2001 Jurgen Van den Broeck 2002 Thomas Buffel 2003 Kirsten Flipkens 2004 Aagje Vanwalleghem 2005 Niels Albert 2006 Yoris Grandjean 2007 Dominique Cornu 2008 Elise Matthysen 2009 Romelu Lukaku 2010 Luca Brecel 2011 Thomas Van der Plaetsen 2012 Kimmer Coppejans 2013 Nafissatou Thiam 2014 Divock Origi 2015 Tiesj Benoot 2016 Louise Carton 2017 Lotte Kopecky 2018 Remco Evenepoel 2019 Yari Verschaeren 2020 Charles De Ketelaere 2021 Thibau Nys 2022 Cian Uijtdebroeks 2023 Alec Segaert 2024 Jarno Widar 2025 Roos Vanotterdijk
Paralympic	2010 Sven Decaesstecker 2011 Wim Decleir 2012 Marieke Vervoort 2013 Joachim Gérard 2014 Michèle George 2015 Marieke Vervoort 2016 Laurens Devos 2017–2018 Peter Genyn 2019–2021 Joachim Gérard 2022 Michèle George 2023-2024 Maxime Carabin 2025 Léa Bayekula
Coach	2011–2012 Jacques Borlée 2013–2014 Marc Wilmots 2015 Hein Vanhaezebrouck 2016–2017 Roger Lespagnard 2018 Roberto Martínez 2019 Shane Mcleod 2020 Philip Mestdagh 2021 Shane Mcleod 2022 Roger Lespagnard 2023 Rachid Meziane 2024 Sven Vanthourenhout 2025 Vincent Kompany

v t e Belgian National Sports Merit Award

1928 Louis Crooy and Victor Groenen 1929 Georges Ronsse 1930 Hyacinte Roosen 1931 René Milhoux and Jules Tacheny 1932 not awarded 1933 Jef Scherens 1934 Union SG 1935 Count Arnold de Looz-Corswarem 1936 Ernest Demuyter 1937 Joseph Mostert 1938 Hubert Carton de Wiart 1939 Commandant Henry de Menten de Horne 1940 Fernande Caroen 1941 Jan Guilini 1942 Pol Braekman 1943 Prince Albert de Ligne 1944 not awarded 1945 Flying personnel of the Belgian Royal Air Force-section 1946 Gaston Reiff 1947 Micheline Lannoy and Pierre Baugniet 1948 Étienne Gailly 1949 Feru Moulin 1950 Briek Schotte 1951 Johnny Claes and Jacky Ickx 1952 André Noyelle 1953 Crew of the Yacht Omoo (Mr. and Mrs. Van de Wielle and Fred Debels) 1954 Adolph Verschueren 1955 Roger Moens 1956 Gilberte Thirion 1957 Jacques Brichant and Philippe Washer 1958 René Baeten 1959 Belgium men's national field hockey team 1960 Flory Van Donck 1961 Rik Van Looy 1962 Gaston Roelants 1963 Aurèle Vandendriessche 1964 Joël Robert 1965 First jachtwing of the Belgian Air Component 1966 Raymond Ceulemans 1967 Ferdinand Bracke and Eddy Merckx 1968 Jacky Ickx 1969 Serge Reding 1970 Freddy Herbrand 1971 Emiel Puttemans 1972 Karel Lismont 1973 Roger De Coster 1974 Paul Van Himst 1975 Jean-Pierre Burny 1976 Ivo Van Damme 1977 Gaston Rahier 1978 Anderlecht 1979 Robert Van de Walle 1980 Belgium national football team 1981 Annie Lambrechts 1982 Ingrid Berghmans 1983 Eddy Annys 1984 André Malherbe 1985 not awarded 1986 William Van Dijck 1987 Ingrid Lempereur 1988 Eric Geboers 1989 Michel Preud'homme 1990 Jan Ceulemans 1991 Jean-Michel Saive 1992 Annelies Bredael 1993 Vincent Rousseau 1994 Brigitte Becue 1995 Fred Deburghgraeve 1996 Johan Museeuw 1997 Luc Van Lierde 1998 Ulla Werbrouck 1999 Gella Vandecaveye 2000 Joël Smets 2001 Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin 2002 Marc Wilmots 2003 Stefan Everts 2004 Axel Merckx 2005 Tom Boonen 2006 Kim Gevaert and Tia Hellebaut 2007 Belgian Women's 4×100 metres relay team 2008 not awarded 2009 Philippe Gilbert 2010 Philippe Le Jeune 2011 Kevin Borlée 2012 Evi Van Acker 2013 Frederik Van Lierde 2014 Daniel Van Buyten 2015 Belgian men's 4 × 400 metres relay team 2016 Nafissatou Thiam 2017 David Goffin 2018 Nina Derwael 2019 Belgium men's national field hockey team 2020 Wout van Aert 2021 Bashir Abdi 2022 Remco Evenepoel 2023 Bart Swings 2024 Lotte Kopecky 2025 Emma Meesseman