Jun Woong-tae helped South Korea to the men's team relay gold medal at the UIPM World Championships ©Getty Images

South Korea’s Jun Woong-tae and Hwang Woo-Jin successfully defended their men’s team relay crown on the opening day of the International Modern Pentathlon Union Senior World Championships in Egypt’s capital Cairo.

The duo amassed a total of 1,422 points to beat Germany’s Christian Zillekens and Alexander Nobis to victory by a margin of three.

Rounding out the podium was Belarus’ Ilya Palazkov and Pavel Tsikhanau, who finished a further 12 points back.

Russia’s Ilia Frolov, a runner-up last year, and Danil Kalimullin came fourth with 1,397 points.

Christian Zillekens was part of Germany's silver medal-winning pairing ©Getty Images
Christian Zillekens was part of Germany's silver medal-winning pairing ©Getty Images

The men's team relay was the first of five medal events.

Scheduled for tomorrow is the women’s team relay.

Qualifying for the men and women's individual events will be held on Thursday and Friday (August 24 and 25) with the respective finals scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday (August 26 and 27).

A mixed relay will bring the curtain down on the Championships on August 28.