Louis van Gelder

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Louis van Gelder (born February 5, 1921 in Schaerbeek ; † January 21, 2017 ) was a Belgian national table tennis player and official. He took part in two world championships in the 1950s .

Career

Louis van Gelder was the son of Dutch parents who had settled in Belgium. He started playing table tennis at the age of 15 at the Ping Pong Club in Brussels . In May 1940 the family fled to France from the advancing German troops. Here she was held in a camp for foreign workers. Louis van Gelder escaped and hiked across the Pyrenees on foot. He was arrested in Spain and ended up in a concentration camp, where the Red Cross liberated him after eight months. He reached England via Gibraltar and joined the Royal Air Force . In 1946 he moved to Holland, in the same year he married the table tennis player Mavis (* 1925), with whom he had two sons. He worked as a pilot in Holland for two years, after which the couple moved to Brussels.

Here Louis became a member of the Pantheon table tennis club in his birthplace Schaerbeek. From 1954 to 2001 he was chairman of this club. In 1955 and 1959 he took part in the world championships, but never came close to medal ranks.

From 1969 to 1983 he was President of the Belgian Table Tennis Federation (FRBTT), and he also took on official duties in the ITTF . Together with his wife, he took part in world and European championships for seniors until old age. In 2015 he ended his active career.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In Memorian: Louis Van Gelder (French) (accessed July 23, 2017)
  2. ↑ Results from the ITTF database  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on July 23, 2017)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.old.ittf.com  
  3. ↑ Results from the ITTF database  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on July 23, 2017)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.old.ittf.com  

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Van Gelder, Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian table tennis player and official
DATE OF BIRTH February 5, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Schaerbeek
DATE OF DEATH January 21, 2017