 Lai at the 2024 Summer Paralympics | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality |  Canada | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | July 29, 2000 Honolulu County, Hawaii | |||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wheelchair basketball | |||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | 1.0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Event | Women's team | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Puisand Lai (born July 29, 2000) is a Canadian wheelchair tennis and 1.0 point wheelchair basketball player. In 2018, she was part of the Canadian national women's wheelchair basketball team at the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Hamburg.
Puisand Lai was born in Honolulu County, Hawaii, on July 29, 2000. [1] When she was six years old, she was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a rare neurological condition in which the spinal cord is inflamed. [2]
In October 2013, Lai joined the Mississauga Little Aces program, a project supported by Tennis Canada and run by Albert Fong of Mississagua Little Aces, which teaches tennis to children from ages six to sixteen, and children with disabilities from ages eight to nineteen. Lai was soon able to play with non-disabled children. [2]
In July 2014, she represented Tennis Canada in the International Tennis Federation Americas Junior Wheelchair Tennis Camp, [2] one of only three such camps worldwide. [3] By 2017, she was ranked 7th in the ITF rankings for girls' wheelchair tennis, and 73rd in the women's. [4] She was a member of Canada's 2017 World Team Cup junior team, [5] competing in Sardinia, Italy after the team earned a wild card spot from the International Tennis Federation. [6] [7]
Lai also participated in sledge hockey, sailing and wheelchair basketball, [2] where she was classified as a 1.0 point player, and began playing competitively in 2014. She was noticed by Kathy Ludwig, the Ontario coach, who asked her to join Team Ontario. In 2018, she was part of the Canadian national women's wheelchair basketball team at the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Hamburg. [1]
As of 2018 [update] , she is studying engineering at McMaster University. [1]
Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designed wheelchairs, and the ball may bounce up to two times, where the second bounce may also occur outside the court.
Edina Müller is a German 2.5 point wheelchair basketball player and KL1 canoeist. She played for ASV Bonn in the German wheelchair basketball league, and for the national team. As part of the German women's national wheelchair basketball team, she won bronze at the 2006 World Cup in Amsterdam, won three time European champions, a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, and a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. The team was voted 2008 Team of the Year in disabled sports, and Horst Köhler presented it with Germany's highest sports award, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team a second Silver Leaf after it won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Müller was also a two-time U.S. champion (2006-2008) with her college team Illinois Fighting Illini at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and helped ASV Bonn win the European Cup in Valladolid, Spain in 2009. From 2011 to 2014 she played for Hamburger SV.
Annabel Breuer is a wheelchair fencer and 1.5 point wheelchair basketball player. She has played for SKV Ravensburg and Sabres Ulm in the German wheelchair basketball league. In December 2012 she was contracted to play for first division club RSV Lahn-Dill as well as Sabres Ulm. She has also played the national team, with which she won two European titles, was runner-up at 2010 World Championships, and won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. After the London Games, President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt.
Cindy Ouellet is a Canadian Paralympic wheelchair basketball player.
Tamara Steeves is a Canadian 1.5 point wheelchair basketball player from Etobicoke, Ontario who won a gold medal in the 2009 Artland Open which was hosted in Quakenbruck, Germany and in 2011 bronze medal at Osaka Cup which was hosted in Osaka, Japan. She also won a silver medal at Canada Games in her home town Ontario the same year.
Janet McLachlan is a Canadian 4.5 point wheelchair basketball player who won a bronze medal at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Birmingham, and gold at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Toronto.
Sophie Carrigill is a 1.0 point British wheelchair basketball player who represented Great Britain at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Toronto and the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Laurie Anne Williams is a 2.5 point British-Irish wheelchair basketball player who participated at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo and the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris representing Great Britain.
Amy Conroy is a 4.0 point British wheelchair basketball player who represented Great Britain in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, the 2016 Summer Paralympics in a Rio de Janeiro, co captained the team to win Gold in the under 25 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Beijing and won a silver medal at the 2018 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Hamburg.
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Judith Hamer is a 4.0 point British wheelchair basketball player who represented Great Britain at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games. She won a Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Award for bravery and trekked across the Andes Mountains in Ecuador as part of a reality television show, Beyond Boundaries.
Diede de Groot is a Dutch professional wheelchair tennis player who is the current world No. 1 in both singles and doubles.
Madeleine Thompson is a 4 point British wheelchair basketball player. In 2008, at the age of thirteen, she became the youngest ever player to represent Great Britain in wheelchair basketball. She was part of the British team at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Toronto, and the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Hamburg.
Kady Dandeneau is a Canadian 4.5 point wheelchair basketball player. In 2018, she was part of the Canadian national women's team for the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Hamburg.
Sandrine Bérubé is a Canadian 4.5 point wheelchair basketball player who has represented Quebec at both the junior and senior levels. In 2018, she was part of the Canadian national women's team for the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Hamburg.
Élodie Tessier is a Canadian 2.5 point wheelchair basketball player. She was part of the Under 25 national team at the 2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Beijing, and the senior Canadian national women's team at the Americas Cup in Cali, Colombia, in 2017, and the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Hamburg in 2018.
Rose Marie Hollermann is an American 3.5 point wheelchair basketball player and member of the United States women's national wheelchair basketball team. She who won gold at the 2011, and 2019 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship, the 2011, 2015 and 2023 Parapan American Games, and the 2016 Summer Paralympics. She also won bronze at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and the 2022 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships.
Louise Hunt is a British wheelchair tennis player who competed in international level events. She was a former world number 2 in the junior wheelchair tennis singles rankings, and 10 in the women’s international rankings. She is a colour badge holder as she competed in 2 Paralympic Games and 13 World Team Cups around the world. She got bronze at the 2011 BNP Paribas World Team Cup and silver medalist at the 2012 BNP Paribas World Team Cup. Louise is now an athlete mentor and unique motivational speaker. Hunt is an international tournament director and professional commentator, commentating at events such and Wimbledon, World masters and the Paralympics.
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