Austria stun India 3-0, Gardos sparks surprise Round of 16 run

Austria did more than beat India in the Men’s Team Round of 32 at OVO Arena Wembley. It flipped a match that looked tight on paper into one of the shock results of London 2026, with Robert Gardos’ escape over Manush Shah setting up a 3-0 sweep that sent Austria into the Round of 16.

The whole tie seemed to hang on the first rubber, and Gardos made it a stress test. He dropped the opening game, settled into the rally patterns, then stared at trouble in the fifth when Shah moved ahead 7-2 and looked ready to steal the opener for India. Gardos stayed patient, found better timing on the ball and mixed his serve enough to change the rhythm. He clawed all the way back and closed it 13-11 in the decider, 3-2 overall, and that recovery changed the temperature of the entire tie.

Once Gardos escaped, India never really got it back. Daniel Habesohn, 39, came out with discipline and pace control, and he beat Manav Thakkar 3-0 without letting the Indian settle into any kind of pattern. The result mattered beyond the score line, too. ITTF said it was Habesohn’s first win over Shah in their third meeting, and it also noted that Shah’s loss visibly affected the Indian bench. In a knockout tie, that kind of deflation can spread fast.

Andreas Levenko made sure it did. He stayed aggressive and composed against Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, finishing another straight-games win to complete the sweep and confirm Austria’s place in the last 16. The final line was brutal for India: Gardos over Shah 3-2, Habesohn over Thakkar 3-0, Levenko over Sathiyan 3-0. Manav Thakkar entered the event list at No. 38, Shah at No. 51, and Gardos remains Austria’s veteran, listed by World Table Tennis with a senior world ranking reference of No. 19.

For Austria, the bigger story is what came after the scare. Gardos said the team is built on balance and that winning the opening point gave Austria extra confidence and energy. He also pointed to the week’s adjustments, including a new hall and uncomfortable new balls, but the key was how quickly Austria solved the match once it started to tilt. That makes the Round of 16 meeting with Korea Republic more than a reward for the upset. In the sport’s centenary year, with the championship back in England a century after the first world event in 1926, Austria suddenly look like a problem no one wants on the draw.