Thomas Wandschneider

Thomas Wandschneider
Parabadminton

Personal information

Type of disability (class):

WH1

Nationality:

Germany

Birthday:

November 7, 1963

Place of birth:

Buxtehude

Society:

VfL Grasdorf

Medals

Badminton World Cup for the Disabled
	Wales 2003 Cardiff	Mixed (wheelchair)
	Chinese Taipei 2005 Hsinchu	Single (wheelchair)
	Chinese Taipei 2005 Hsinchu	Double (wheelchair)
	Thailand 2007 Bangkok	Double (wheelchair)
	Thailand 2007 Bangkok	Single (wheelchair)
	Guatemala 2011 Guatemala City	Double (wheelchair)
	Guatemala 2011 Guatemala City	Single (wheelchair)
	Germany 2013 Dortmund	Double (wheelchair)
	Germany 2013 Dortmund	Single (wheelchair)
	England 2015 Stoke Mandeville	Single (wheelchair)
	Korea South 2017 Ulsan	Single (wheelchair)
European Badminton Championship for the disabled
	Spain 2006 La Rinconada	Single (wheelchair)
	Spain 2006 La Rinconada	Double (wheelchair)
	Germany 2008 Dortmund	Single (wheelchair)
	Germany 2008 Dortmund	Double (wheelchair)
	Switzerland 2010 Filzbach	Double (wheelchair)
	Switzerland 2010 Filzbach	Single (wheelchair)
	Germany 2012 Dortmund	Single (wheelchair)
	Germany 2012 Dortmund	Double (wheelchair)
	Germany 2012 Dortmund	Mixed (wheelchair)
	Spain 2014 Murcia	Single (wheelchair)
	Spain 2014 Murcia	Double (wheelchair)
	Spain 2014 Murcia	Mixed (wheelchair)
	Netherlands 2016 Beek	Single (wheelchair)
	Netherlands 2016 Beek	Double (wheelchair)
	France 2018 Rodez	Single (wheelchair)
	France 2018 Rodez	Double (wheelchair)

Thomas Wandschneider (born November 7, 1963 in Buxtehude ) is a German badminton player for VfL Grasdorf . He is paraplegic and starts in Parabadminton in the starting class WH1 in singles, doubles and mixed. Wandschneider is one of the most successful players in parabadminton for the past 20 years.

Wandschneider suffered paraplegia in May 2000 while waiting with his car at a traffic light and a garbage truck pulled up at high speed. At that time he was forecast to have a life expectancy of three to five years. Wandschneider came to parabadminton through a friend from the clinic and took part in his first badminton world championship for the disabled in Córdoba, Spain , in 2001 . He is self-employed and rents out his own holiday homes on the Costa Blanca .

Wandschneider won his first medal at a World Badminton Championship for the disabled in Cardiff in 2003 , a bronze medal in mixed. It was followed by more than 25 medals in world and European championships in singles and doubles, and occasionally in mixed. Outstanding were two gold medals at the 2005 World Cup in Hsinchu, Taiwan . Also because of the increasing performance of the Asian athletes, Wandschneider could not repeat such a success. Until 2013 he was always in the medal ranks in singles and doubles. After gold in doubles and bronze in singles in 2013 in Dortmund, he achieved silver in singles in Stoke Mandeville in 2015 and bronze in singles in 2017 in Ulsan, South Korea .

Wandschneider has dominated events at the European Badminton Championships for the disabled since 2006. Since then, he has won at least two medals at every European championship, mostly two gold medals in singles and doubles. His performance at the 2012 European Championships in Dortmund was outstanding, when he won singles, doubles and mixed gold.

Wandschneider wanted to end his sports career several years ago. The news that Parabadminton will be in the Paralympic program for the first time at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics prompted him to continue his career with the new goal of participating in the Paralympics.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Thomas Wandschneider. In: teamdeutschland-paralympics.de. Retrieved February 9, 2020 .
↑ ^a ^b Derk Hoberg: Para-Badminton EM: Thomas Wandschneider in a portrait. In: netzathleten.de. October 30, 2018, accessed February 9, 2020 .
^ Wilhelm Seibert: Two bronze medals at the Para Badminton World Cup. In: teamdeutschland-paralympics.de. November 28, 2017, accessed February 8, 2020 .

personal data
SURNAME	Wandschneider, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German badminton player
DATE OF BIRTH	November 7, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH	Buxtehude

[Team_Deutschland-1] Thomas Wandschneider. In: teamdeutschland-paralympics.de. Retrieved February 9, 2020 .

[Netzathleten-2] Derk Hoberg: Para-Badminton EM: Thomas Wandschneider in a portrait. In: netzathleten.de. October 30, 2018, accessed February 9, 2020 .

[3] Wilhelm Seibert: Two bronze medals at the Para Badminton World Cup. In: teamdeutschland-paralympics.de. November 28, 2017, accessed February 8, 2020 .