Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken got their Luge World Cup season off to a superb start in Beijing ©Getty Images

World champions Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken of Germany won the first doubles competition of the Luge World Cup season in Beijing.

The pair produced the best two runs at the Yanqing Sliding Center as they showed great form on a track which will be used at next year's Winter Olympics.

A first run of 58.793sec was followed with another performance in the second, finishing in 58.817 to secure victory in a time of 1min 57.610sec.

It was their 47th World Cup win and will give them a big confidence boost for the rest of this Olympic season.

Austria's Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller came second in 1:57.819 – just 0.209 seconds behind the German duo.

Last season's overall World Cup winners were again 0.220 seconds ahead of the Latvian brothers Andris and Juris Sics, who crossed in 1:58.039.

The Yanqing National Sliding Center will be the luge venue for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics ©Getty Images
The Yanqing National Sliding Center will be the luge venue for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics ©Getty Images

"Even though the time gaps are unusually large, it was still two exciting runs," said Eggert.

"No one stayed clear of mistakes on the demanding track.

"What is special is that the track is extremely long, which means that you have to focus and concentrate for a very long time.

"In addition, the curve pressure is very low and it is difficult to feel the points to steer, which means that you have to look for other landmarks."

Reigning Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt found life difficult on the Beijing 2022 track as they finished in ninth position.

There were doubts the German pair would even take part in the event after Arlt tested positive for coronavirus pandemic.

A further test saw Arlt produce a negative result, allowing them two days to prepare but the COVID-19 scare appeared to affect their performance.

Competition is due to continue tomorrow with the women's singles and team relay competitions.