CALGARY - German doubles sliders Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch overcame an average first run with a sizzling second to win gold Friday at the first World Cup luge event of the season.

Their two-run time of one minute 27.855 seconds edged out countrymen Andre Florschuetz and Torsten Wustlich by three one-hundredths of a second under the lights at Canada Olympic Park.

Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber of Italy - who won the Calgary event in last year's World Cup - were third, about two-tenths of a second off the pace.

"It was very important. It's good for our self-confidence and to know you can win if the sled is good enough,'' said Resch.

It was a disappointing night for Canadian veterans Chris Moffat and Mike Moffat, who finished 10th in the 20-sled field.

In the first run, the pair slammed into the wall out of the start handles.

"We pulled crooked and then skidded into the wall. Right away your speed is gone,'' said Mike.

Their two-run time was 1:28.639.

The Moffats were looking for a strong start to the season as the first races will determine Olympic qualification for the Vancouver Games in February.

The Calgary-born brothers, ninth in doubles at the Turin Olympics in 2006, finished in the top-10 three times last season after missing the first three events when Chris, the front driver of the tandem, broke his left wrist in training.

The screw was just removed from the wrist last month, but Mike said the injury was not a factor.

"I'd blame it more on our technique, not being as crisp as we needed to be.''

Canadian coach Wolfgang Staudinger said it was back to the drawing board.

"We have to evaluate what went wrong. In training we looked much more solid, but in the race we couldn't get it across,'' he said.

The news was brighter for newcomers Tristan Walker and Justin Snith. Driving in their first-ever race on the senior circuit, the Calgary teenagers were 13th, about eighth-tenths of a second behind the winners.

"I'm really pleased the way it went. Overall, we were looking for top-20 and we achieved that,'' said Snith, the back driver of the duo.

Leitner and Resch were sixth after the first run, eight-tenths of a second behind provisional leaders Florschuetz and Wustlich, but drove a near perfect line on fast ice in the second stint to win.

"We are fighters, maybe that was the reason for the excellent second run,'' said Resch.

The pair, both from Berchtesgaden, are two of the most decorated sliders in German history but are looking for redemption. They won Olympic gold at Salt Lake in 2002 but raced poorly in Turin in 2006 and finished in sixth place.

The Italian team of Gerhard Plankensteiner and Oswald Haselrieder, the reigning World Championship winners, did not compete.

Plankensteiner injured his back in pre-race training and flew to Germany for treatment. They are expected to compete at Igls, Austria, in the second event of the season Nov 28-29.

The women's and men's singles competition runs Saturday at Canada Olympic Park.