49-year-old Jean-Michel Saive retires from table tennis

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Jean-Michel Saive, Belgium's legendary table tennis player who has been known as "Big Saive" by Chinese fans, finished his last game for Auderghem on Thursday night, putting an end to his 36-year professional career.

On that night, Saive expressed his gratitude towards Wang Dayong, his mentor in table tennis and former coach of the Belgian table tennis national team in an interview with Xinhua: "I would like to thank Mr. Wang, who was my coach for more than 20 years, a bit like a father to me, and helped me win the 1993 China Open, which is one of my greatest achievements."

Saive also shared his view on China: "I have a really very special relationship with China. I have many memories and have been there at least 40 times in my career. I have seen how much China has changed over the last 30 years."

Belgian table tennis legend Jean-Michel Saive (R) shakes hands with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach. /VCG Photo

Wang was there watching Saive's last game and told Xinhua: "Saive has done too much for Belgian table tennis as a player who topped the world nine times. I have trained, played and fought together with him for 20 years. His glories not only promoted the development of table tennis in Belgium, but also played an important role in the international table tennis world."

Though Saive will cease to be a professional player, he promised that he would never leave sports or table tennis: "I will stay in the table tennis world and sport, and play a role in my federation or with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)."

Forty-nine-year-old Saive began his table tennis career from the 1983 World Table Tennis Championships in Tokyo, Japan at the age of 13. In the final of the 2001 World Championships in Osaka, Japan, Saive led Belgium against China before they lost and won the silver medal. Since table tennis was introduced into Summer Olympics in 1988, he has played a total seven times in the event.