Seong scored 1072 points to top the standings, after placing 28^th in the fencing, earning 200 points, fifth in the swimming, to earn 284 points and third in the laser run to score 588 points.

Elena Potapenko of Kazakhstan qualified in second place with 1062 points, with all athletes down to ninth place earning the same total.

Charlie Follett of Britain qualified in third place, with Mayan Oliver of Mexico in fourth, topping the standings in the laser run discipline.

The top performer in the fencing discipline was Sunwoo Kim of South Korea who qualified in fifth place, with the best performer in swimming Elena Micheli of Italy qualifying in tenth place.

All of the world’s top nine ranked athletes qualified, led by world number one Elodie Clouvel of France, who qualified in 22^nd place.

The women’s semi-finals are due to begin tomorrow with the fencing ranking round.

Elsewhere today the men’s semi-finals started with the fencing ranking round, with Zhang Linbin of China topping the standings in semi-final B with 24 wins and 245 points.

These are the same scores as second-placed Joe Choong of Britain, the current Olympic champion, and third-placed Jinhwa Jung of South Korea.

Semi-final A was topped by Pele Uibel of Germany, who is in fourth place overall, also with 24 wins and 245 points.

The men’s semi-finals are due to continue tomorrow with the fencing, swimming and laser run disciplines.