Thumbs up for his brilliant final at GermanSkills 2026: Tile setter Niko Schleicher has qualified for WorldSkills 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo: © German Tile and Natural Stone Association)

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Tile layer Niko Schleicher secures his ticket for Shanghai

Panorama - Society

May 2026

At the GermanSkills final in Seebruck, Niko Schleicher edged out his competitor Luis Brauner for first place. He will therefore represent Germany at the WorldSkills Competition in China in September.

Niko Schleicher won the last of four competitions in the GermanSkills 2026 qualification series for the German national tiling team , thus qualifying for WorldSkills 2026 , which will take place from September 22nd to 27th in Shanghai, China. "It was a tough duel with Luis throughout the entire season, so I'm all the more delighted about my qualification," the future World Championship participant reflected on his competition with Luis Brauner. Now, the 21-year-old from Saarland, who works as a journeyman at Schleicher Tiles in Illingen, plans to prepare specifically for WorldSkills with intensive training. His ambitious goal: "I want to go far in China and win gold for Germany."

Behind Niko Schleicher, Luis Brauner from North Rhine-Westphalia took second place . Together with third-place finisher Lukas Blos from Rhineland-Palatinate, he will represent the German team at the international PCI Alpine Cup on June 25th and 26th in Augsburg. Moritz Herder from Brandenburg finished fourth in the GermanSkills competition for the national tiling team .