Quadri Aruna made a winning start to life at Amiens STT on Tuesday, beating Iran’s Amir Hossein Hodaei as his new club edged Lille Métropole 3-2 in their French Pro B opener.
Aruna played the first match of the evening and had to recover from losing a tight opening game 14-12. He responded decisively, taking the next three 11-4, 11-7 and 11-8 to give Amiens the lead in front of their home supporters at the Albéric-Labaume Gymnasium.
The team contest remained close. South Korea’s Cho Seung-min lost to Andrej Gaćina to bring Lille level, before João Monteiro restored Amiens’ advantage. Gaćina then beat Denis Dorcescu, sending the fixture to a fifth and deciding match.
Cho returned to the table against Hodaei and won in four games, completing a victory that took Amiens almost four hours to secure. Aruna, Monteiro and Cho each contributed a win on an evening when Amiens needed all three of their new signings.
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Aruna joined a club with clear promotion ambitions. The French table tennis federation identified Amiens as one of the strongest sides in the division following a summer in which it added the Nigerian and Cho to its squad. Tuesday’s result delivered the opening win, although Lille made them work for it.
Amiens next travel to Nantes on September 29. That fixture offers an immediate Nigerian connection: Segun Toriola is player-coach at Nantes, who also began their season with a victory.
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