The Chinese event is the only round of the World Cup series that hosts a sprint distance on the opening day of competition and a super-sprint the following day.

Tomorrow is due to semi-final elimination rounds take place, with men and women tackling a sprint-distance course consisting of a 750 metres swim, 20 kilometre bike and 5km run.

Three semi-finals will take place for men and two women’s heats are then scheduled to take place.

A total of 30 athletes will qualify for both finals with the top nine in each of the men’s heat qualifying automatically.

The athletes with the three fastest times across the heats outside the automatic places will then qualify.

The top 14 finishers in both women’s heats will advance automatically, with two fastest losers also advancing.

Finals will feature a super sprint-distance format and consist of a 400m swim, 10km bike ride and 2.5km run.

Azerbaijan’s Rostislav Pevtsov ended as the runner-up in 2016 and 2017, but will hope to triumph in the men’s even this time around.

Hungary’s Bence Bicsák and Slovakia’s Richard Varga are also among the other contenders for victory.

Australia’s Emma Jeffcoat has been tipped for success in the women’s competition, along with Japan’s Yurie Kato and Elena Danilova of Russia.