After nearly three decades,Saive doesn’t give up on Olympic dream

Not giving up
But the much-celebrated southpaw is not the one to give up easily. “Maybe,I will be lucky seventh time,” says Saive. The Belgian is upset that the standard of game in his country is not what it used to be while China has made giant strides.

“In China,right from the airport to the city and at all vantage points you would find posters and hoardings of top players proclaiming their supremacy in the game. In Belgium football and tennis have pushed TT behind. Most of our players,including my brother Philippe,play in the French second division,” says Saive with a tinge of sadness.

Saive hails from a family of table tennis players. His father was ranked 10th in Belgium,while his mother won the doubles crown in 1969.

As a 13-year-old,Saive first represented his country. He fondly recalls the 1987 World Championships in New Delhi. “Personally,it was not a grand outing for me. I lost very badly (1-3) to Swede Jorgen Persson in the first round but Belgium had performed well as a team to qualify to play in second division. Until then,we were playing the third division,” said Saive.

The Belgian star has over 130 international medals,including 51 gold,to his credit. He was a finalist at the world finals in 1993 and World Cup the subsequent year. He was twice the flag bearer at Atlanta and Athens. He was the Sports Personality of the Year in 1991 and in 1994. In 1989,Saive received the UNESCO World Award of Fair Play. But the Belgian,without bating an eyelid ,said he would not mind trading off all his possessions for an Olympic medal.