The duo were competing in the opening qualifying group in Hungary, with French finishing the fencing discipline in second position with 17 victories and eight defeats to finish second, behind China’s Liang Wanxia.

After Murray posted the fastest time in the swimming event, clocking 2min 9.90sec, the London 2012 silver medallist started the combined event one place behind her compatriot in fourth position in the standings.

French completed the combined discipline in 13:03.02 and with Murray ending in 13:01.10, the British duo top the qualification group with points tallies of 1048.

Italy’s Elena Micheli and France’s Julie Belhamri finished just one point back to both comfortably advance to the final.

The second qualification group was equally tight, with Germany’s Annika Schleu finishing tied at the top of the leaderboard with Russia’s Sofia Serkina and France’s Marie Oteiza on 1046 points.

South Korea’s Mina Jeong finished comfortably clear of her rivals in the third qualification group, as she eventually ended on a tally of 1034 points.

The men’s qualification is scheduled to take place tomorrow, with the women’s final then due to take place on Saturday.

Competition will then draw to a close with the men’s final on Sunday (April 17).