Saturday December 20 1997   Table Tennis Saive goes through to semis   UNUS ALLADIN A fighting-fit Jean-Michel Saive of Belgium defeated in-form Kong Linghui to reach the semi-finals of the men's singles at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Pro-Tour Grand Finals last night.   Saive, who was ranked number one in the world for two straight years between 1994 and 1995, carved out a thrilling five-game victory over Kong, the 1995 world champion, 21-19, 21-15, 16-21, 16-21, 21-15 to stake his claim in the season-ending tournament at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium.   Reigning world champion Jan-Ove Waldner was another big name to crash out after the Swedish great fell to China's up-and-coming Wang Liqin , also in a five-set thriller.   Wang, who is ranked 19th in the world, beat the two-time world champion and 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games gold medallist, currently ranked number three in the world, to claim his biggest scalp to date.   But it was Saive's victory over the 21-year-old Chinese which really stood out.   ''He's [Kong] the number one-ranked player at the moment so it's a great victory for me. ''He was in good shape and it's particularly gratifying to beat him having lost to him in the final of the Malaysian Open in August,'' said 28-year-old Saive,whose ranking has slipped to 13 in the world. ''He was a bit nervous in the first game but he was fighting hard in the second game. ''But, when it all came down to the crunch in the fifth, I got the measure of him,'' said the former European champion.   ''I'd rather play Wang Liqin than Waldner because I have never played the Chinese player before,'' said Saive, before knowing who his semi-final opponent would be.   Kong, who won the world title at 19, said: ''I'm still tired after playing a series of club matches in Russia and I haven't really recovered from it. My reactions were a bit slow.''   Saive then got his wish as Wang delivered a stunning blow to perhaps the greatest table tennis player ever in another superb exhibition.