Table Tennis David Jacobs

Born in Ujung Pandang, he took up table tennis at the age of ten and rose quickly through national tournaments. He was training to play internationally by 2000, and in 2001 he won his first gold medal, at the SEATTA Championships in Singapore. After 2010 he competed in para table tennis, having spent most of his career competing against athletes with full functionality. Having lost control in his right hand, he decided to compete in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, winning a bronze medal.

David Jacobs
Full name	Dian David Mickael Jacobs
Residence	Jakarta, Indonesia
Born	(1977-06-21)21 June 1977 Ujung Pandang, Indonesia
Died	28 April 2023(2023-04-28) (aged 45) Jakarta, Indonesia
Medal record Men's para table tennis Representing  Indonesia Paralympic Games 2012 London Individual (class 10) 2020 Tokyo Individual (class 10) World Championships 2022 Granada Individual (class 10) 2014 Beijing Team (class 9-10) 2022 Granada Mixed doubles (class 20) Asian Para Games 2014 Incheon Individual (class 10) 2018 Jakarta Individual (class 10) 2018 Jakarta Doubles (class 10) 2014 Incheon Team (class 9-10) 2010 Guangzhou Individual (class 10) Asian Championships 2015 Amman Individual (class 10) 2019 Taichung Team (class 10) 2013 Beijing Individual (class 10) 2013 Beijing Team (class 10) 2015 Amman Team (class 10) 2019 Taichung Individual (class 10) ASEAN Para Games 2011 Surakarta Individual (class 10) 2011 Surakarta Doubles (class 10) 2015 Singapore Individual (class 10) 2017 Kuala Lumpur Individual (class 10) 2015 Singapore doubles (class 10) 2015 Singapore team (class 10) 2017 Kuala Lumpur team (class 10) 2022 Surakarta Doubles (class 10) Men's table tennis SEA Games 2005 Manila Men's doubles 2007 Nakhon Ratchasima Men's doubles 2009 Vientiane Men's team

Jacobs was born in Ujung Pandang (now Makassar) on 21 June 1977. He was of Ambonese descent. He began playing table tennis at age ten, with the support of his parents Jan and Nell, as well as his brothers Rano, Piere, and Joe; as of 2012^[update] his three brothers also play table tennis. In 1989 his parents registered him with the PTP Club in Semarang; in his two years with the club, he became a national champion at the elementary-school level.

When Jacobs was ready to begin his junior high school, the family moved to Jakarta. Jacobs was signed with UMS 80 Club. He continued to improve and joined the provincial team. In 1997 he was sent to Beijing to train at the Shi Cha Hai Sports School. By 2000 Jacobs was already being prepared to compete at the international level by the Indonesian Table Tennis Association. As of January 2012^[update] Jacobs was married to Jeanny Palar, with whom he has one child.

While earning a degree in management from the Perbanas School of Economics, Jacobs continued training. He participated in his first Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in 2001. Together with Yon Mardiono, in 2001 Jacobs won Indonesia's only gold medal at the SEATTA table tennis championship in Singapore. In the men's doubles competition, they defeated the Thai duo Phucong Sanguansin and Phakphoom Sanguansin in three matches, scoring 11–4, 11–4, and 11–6. Paired with Mardiono for the first time for this tournament, Jacobs told The Jakarta Post that they "were determined not to let ourselves be dominated".

Jacobs continued to play at the SEA Games, competing in Vietnam (2003), the Philippines (2005), and Thailand (2007). He won the 2004 Pekan Olahraga Nasional competition for table tennis, which led to him receiving an honorary position at the Department of Sport; he became a full-time employee there in 2008. In 2008, Jacobs served as a coach for the Indonesian men's table tennis team, and in 2009 he competed at the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Jacobs began playing in para table tennis tournaments later that year, becoming a member of the National Paralympic Committee in 2010. He competed in Class 10, which is the highest level of functionality in the system. He usually trained with opponents who maintained full functionality. Jacobs himself had a problem with one of his hands.

At the 2010 Asian Para Games in Guangzhou, China, Jacobs won a bronze medal. Before the competition, he had only a month to train. He competed in several international tournaments, winning a gold in Thailand, silver in Beijing, bronze in the Czech Republic, silver in the United Kingdom, and gold in Taiwan. At the 2011 ASEAN Para Games in Surakarta, Jacobs won seven gold medals: men's singles (open), men's doubles (open), mixed doubles (open), men's doubles, mixed doubles, team, and single. In January of the following year, Jacobs took on Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a three-game series. Although the president won one game with a score of 13–11, Jacobs took the series, winning two games with the scores of 11–7 and 11–9. After the competition, Yudhoyono gave a speech on the need to support Indonesia's disabled athletes.

In March 2012, Jacobs won two gold medals at the Protour Paratable Tennis Lignano Open in Italy. In the men's singles, he defeated Ivan Karabec of the Czech Republic with a score of 11–9, 11–7, and 11–8, while in the men's team play, he was paired with Komet Akbar and defeated teams from the Netherlands and Czech Republic. In June he won the Slovakian Table Tennis Tournament, ranking him among the top three in the world.

Jacobs was one of several athletes who represented Indonesia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, with Ni Nengah Widiasih (powerlifting), the swimmer Agus Ngaimin, and an athletics competitor, Setyo Budi Hartanto. Jacobs won the bronze medal in the Table Tennis Men's Individual C10 classification. It was the nation's first Paralympic medal in over twenty years.

On the night of 27 April 2023, Jacobs was found unconscious near Juanda-Gambir railway in Gambir, Central Jakarta. He was rushed to Husada Hospital, and died there on 28 April 2023, at the age of 45.

Paralympic Games

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2012	ExCeL Exhibition Centre, London, Great Britain	José Manuel Ruiz Reyes	11–9, 7–11, 11–5, 11–6	Bronze
2020	Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan	Matéo Bohéas	9–11, 8–11, 11–3, 11–5, 8–11	Bronze

World Championships

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2022	Palacio Municipal de Deportes, Granada, Spain	Patryk Chojnowski	9–11, 9–11, 7–11	Silver

Men's team

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2014	Beijing, China	Komet Akbar	Patryk Chojnowski   Sebastian Powrozniak   Igor Misztal	2–3	Bronze

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2022	Palacio Municipal de Deportes, Granada, Spain	Hana Resti	Patryk Chojnowski   Natalia Partyka	7–11, 12–10, 9–11, 7–11	Bronze

Asian Para Games

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2010	Asian Games Town Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China	Mohamad Azwar Bakar	14–12, 11–4, 11–4	Bronze
2014	Songdo Global University Gymnasium, Incheon, South Korea	Dinesh Deshappriya Pitiyage Don Silva	11–6, 11–5, 7–11, 11–9	Gold
2018	Ecovention, Jakarta, Indonesia	Lian Hao	11–4, 7–11, 11–6, 17–15	Gold

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2018	Ecovention, Jakarta, Indonesia	Komet Akbar	Shin Seung-weon   Jung Suk-youn	11–5, 11–7	Gold

Men's team

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2014	Songdo Global University Gymnasium, Incheon, South Korea	Komet Akbar	Ge Yang   Ma Lin   Lian Hao   Zhao Yi Qing	0–3	Silver

Asian Championships

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2013	Beijing, China	Ge Yang	8–11, 11–7, 8–11, 11–6, 5–11	Silver
2015	Amman, Jordan	Ge Yang	11–8, 4–11, 11–9, 13–11	Gold
2019	John Paul II Stadium, Taichung, Taiwan	Komet Akbar	4–11, 11–13, 11–4, 9–11	Silver

Men's team

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2013	Beijing, China	Komet Akbar	Ge Yang   Kong Weijie	1–3	Silver
2015	Amman, Jordan	Komet Akbar	Ge Yang   Lian Hao	1–2	Silver
2019	John Paul II Stadium, Taichung, Taiwan	Komet Akbar	Lian Hao   Mao Shubo	2–1	Gold

SEA Games

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2005	Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Manila, Philippines	Yon Mardiyono	Cai Xiaoli   Yang Zi		Silver
2007	Klang Plaza, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand	Yon Mardiyono	Gao Ning   Yang Zi	10–12, 11–7, 7–11, 11–7, 10–12	Bronze

Men's team

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2009	Convention Hall, Laos National University, Vientiane, Laos	Yon Mardiyono   Muhammad Hussein	Phuchong Sanguansin   Phakphoom Sanguansin   Chaisit Chaitat	1–3	Bronze

ASEAN Para Games

Men's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2011	Diamond Convention Center, Surakarta, Indonesia			Gold
2015	OCBC Arena, Singapore	Bui Quy Thu	11–7, 11–2, 11–2	Gold
2017	Malaysian International Trade and Exhibition Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Komet Akbar		Gold
2022	Solo Techno Park, Surakarta, Indonesia	Komet Akbar		Gold

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2011	Diamond Convention Center, Surakarta, Indonesia	Komet Akbar	Wawan Widiyantoro   Supriyatna Gumilang		Gold
2015	OCBC Arena, Singapore	Komet Akbar	Mohamad Azwar Bakar   Chee Chaoming	11–5, 11–3, 11–3	Gold

Men's team

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2015	OCBC Arena, Singapore	Komet Akbar   Bangun Sugito   Suwarno	Mohamad Azwar Bakar   Chee Chaoming   Ahmad Syahrir Bin Mohamad   Kamal Saupi		Gold
2017	Malaysian International Trade and Exhibition Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Komet Akbar   Bangun Sugito   Suwarno	Bunpot Sillapakong   Sukij Samee		Gold

SEATTA Championships

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2001	Singapore	Yon Mardiyono	Phuchong Sanguansin   Phakphoom Sanguansin	11–4, 11–4, 11–6	Gold

ITTF Para Table Tennis Tour

Men's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2011	Thailand Open	Jan Brinkmann	11–7, 11–1, 11–4	Gold
2011	China Open	Ge Yang		Silver
2011	Taichung TT Open	Karim Boumedouha		Gold
2012	Lignano Master Open	Ivan Karabec	11–9, 11–7, 11–8	Gold
2012	Slovakia Open	Lian Hao		Gold
2013	Korea Open	Ge Yang		Gold
2014	Al Watani Championships	Saber Balah		Gold
2014	Romania Open	Denislav Stefanov Kodjabashev		Gold
2015	Slovenian Open	Jose Manuel Ruiz Reyes		Silver
2015	Thailand Open	Ivan Karabec		Gold
2016	Indonesia Open	Mohamad Azwar Bakar	11–5, 11–9, 9–11, 11–7	Gold
2017	Open Ciutat del Prat	Jorge Cardona		Gold
2017	Spanish Open	Igor Misztal		Gold
2017	US Open	Kim Daybell	11-9, 9–1, 14-12, 5-11, 14-12	Gold
2018	Indonesia Open	Bunpot Sillapakong		Gold
2018	Spanish Open	Krisztian Gardos		Gold
2018	Copa Tango XVI	Carlos Alberto Carbinatti Junior	11–5, 11–8, 7–11, 11–2	Gold
2019	Egypt Open	Komet Akbar		Gold
2019	Czech Open	Igor Misztal		Gold
2019	Finland Open	Filip Radovic		Gold
2019	Dutch Open	Patryk Chojnowski		Silver
2022	Greek Open	Komet Akbar		Gold

Men's team

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2011	Thailand Open	Mohamad Azwar Bakar	Ju Ren-der   Lu Wei-chen	3–1	Gold
2011	China Open	Mohamad Azwar Bakar	Ge Yang   Lian Hao	2–3	Silver
2011	Czech Open	Ivan Karabec	Iurii Nozdrunov   Pavel Lukyanov	3–0	Gold
2011	British Open	Iurii Nozdrunov	José Manuel Ruiz Reyes   Jorge Cardona   Álvaro Valera	2–1	Gold
2011	Taichung TT Open	Mohamad Azwar Bakar	Ju Ren-der   Hsu Chih-shan	3–0	Gold
2012	Lignano Master Open	Komet Akbar	Ivan Karabec   Bas Hergelink	3–1	Gold
2013	Bayreuth Open	Komet Akbar	Matéo Bohéas   Frederic Bellais	3–1	Gold
2013	Korea Open	Naoya Nagashita	Ge Yang   Kong Weijie	1–3	Silver
2014	Al Watani Championships	Ali Alsanea   Vladislav Balobanov	Ronald Vijverberg   Andrianus Johannes Van Amerongen		Silver
2014	Romania Open	Komet Akbar	Denislav Stefanov Kodjabashev   Esa Miettinen	3–1	Gold
2015	Slovenian Open	Komet Akbar	José Manuel Ruiz Reyes   Juan Bautista Perez Gonzalez	3–1	Gold
2015	Thailand Open	Komet Akbar	Mohamad Azwar Bakar   Dinesh Deshappriya Pitiyage Don Silva		Gold
2017	US Open	Komet Akbar	Kim Daybell   Stacey Joshua	2–1	Gold
2018	Copa Tango XVI	Komet Akbar   Kusnanto	Manuel Felipe Echaveguren Farias   Alvaro Hernan Vega Gutierrez		Gold
2019	Finland Open	Komet Akbar	Matéo Bohéas   Gilles de la Bourdonnaye		Gold
2019	Dutch Open	Kusnanto	Iurii Nozdrunov   Pavel Lukyanov		Gold

Footnotes

• David Jacobs at ITTF Para Table Tennis
• David Jacobs at the International Paralympic Committee