Since the opening in 2011, Robert Gardos practices at the Werner Schlager Academy in Schwechat, Austria.
Career
Early career
Gardos was born on 16 January 1979 in
Budapest,
Hungary. He began playing table tennis in his hometown club Budapesti VSC where his father, Gábor Gárdos worked as a coach. In 1993 Gardos won the
European Youth Championship in singles and in mixed doubles on the side of
Mihaela Encea in the cadet category.[4] At the age of 14, he switched his residence to
Austria, however, he competed for Hungary until he was 18.[5] In 1998, after a conflict with the Hungarian national team – Gardos was left out from the team and could only compete in the singles event – he opted to play for Austria in the future, having already obtained Austrian citizenship two years earlier.[5][6]
Austrian years
Gardos, who is right-handed, began competing for Austria after the three year international suspension for country changing was lifted.[6] He had several success at
Table Tennis European Championships, most notably winning the doubles event of the
2012 edition with
Daniel Habesohn. One year later the duo finished second
in the same event having lost the final against
Wang Zeng Yi and
Tan Ruiwu. In singles, Gardos' best performance came in
2008 in St. Petersburg by finishing third.
Gardos did not qualify for the
2012 Summer Olympics in singles, but the Austrian team with the same line-up was present at the Games. After an easy victory in the first round (Egypt, 3–0),[10] the team faced eventual bronze medalist Germany and lost without winning a single match (0–3),[11] thus finishing tied-fifth.[12]
Gardos qualified for and competed in the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships, seeded at number 42. In the first round, he defeated Chew Zhe Yu of Singapore (4-2), before losing to Chinese player, and number 4 seed
Zhang Jike, (2-4).
Personal life
His nickname is Robi. His hobbies include playing golf, reading, and listening to music. He speaks German, Hungarian, Spanish, and English.[2]
Style
Robert Gardos uses the following styles for play:[2]