Eggert, Benecken on verge of overall luge World Cup victory
Canadian duo of Snith & Walker match career-best 4th-place finish at Oberhof track
Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt led a German sweep in a luge World Cup while Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken took another step toward overall victory on Saturday in Oberhof, Germany.
Wendl and Arlt were fastest in both runs for a combined time of one minute, 21.909 seconds, beating Eggert and Benecken by 0.156 seconds and Robin Johannes Geueke and David Gamm by 0.506.
Canada's Tristan Walker and Justin Snith were fourth, ahead of Russia's Vladislav Yuzhakov and Iurii Prokhorov.
The Calgary-based sliders clocked a two-run time of 1:22.640 on the 10-corner track to match their career-best finish in Oberhof.
"Historically Oberhof has been tough for us, but the last couple of years it just finally started clicking for us here," Snith said. "There have been some change to the ice and the profiles so it just seems to flow better for us here.
"The starts weren't exactly where we want them today, but all-in-all, it was pretty decent. It is nice confirmation to know that we can be up there if we put two runs together, but I am surprised to finish fourth here two years in a row."
Eggert and Benecken have a 167-point lead over Wendl and Arlt after 10 events, meaning the 2014-15 winners are all but certain to claim overall victory at one of the two final World Cups in Pyeongchang, South Korea or Altenberg, Germany later this month.
Loch scores 1st win of season
Olympic champion Felix Loch continued German dominance with his first World Cup win of the season in the men's event.
Loch defeated Russia's Roman Repilov, the overall leader, by 0.040 seconds and compatriot Andi Langenhan by 0.127.
Germans Johannes Ludwig and Ralf Palik were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Sam Edney was the top Canadian, finishing in 17th place with a time of 1:27.087.
Repilov leads Loch by 77 points ahead of the last two events. The women's race and a team relay were scheduled for Sunday.