A 3-2 victory over Malaysia's Syakilla Salni guaranteed her a place in the final on Saturday (October 29) in what is only her second appearance at a World Championships.

The 23-year-old will now take on Brazil’s Valéria Kumizaki, who conquered reigning champion Sara Cardin of Italy before overcoming Japan’s Sara Yamada 3-2 in the semi-final.

Thouy’s performance was part of what has been an exceptional day for France’s female karatekas. 

Lucie Ignace, the world number one in the women’s under 61kg division, also successfully made it through to the final.

The current European champion has won two gold medals in four tournaments this year and arrived in the Austrian city with ambitions of reclaiming the world title she won four years ago.

The 23-year-old was in ominous form all day and eased into the gold medal contest with a 4-1 win over China’s Xiaoyan Yin.

"I am very happy that I have got to the final," said Ignace.

"My trajectory was difficult, but I have worked hard for this, so I am very satisfied to be in the final.

"My job is not done yet and I expect a good fight. 

"We’ll see what happens."

Standing in her way is favourite Giana Lotfy, who is on an incredible unbeaten streak dating back two years.

The Egyptian has won on each of her last seven appearances in major international competitions and looks on course to make it eight after she was awarded a judges' decision win over Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi-Ngoan in the semi-finals.

"It is a honour to be one of the world champions competing at this tournament," said Lotfy.

"It is a great feeling to be here among so many great athletes, so I hope I will do well in the final."

Rounding off a sensational day for the French team was Alexandra Recchia, who will contest the final of the women’s under 50kg competition.

The 28-year-old, who is the current world number one and European champion, won the world title four years ago but could only manage bronze in 2014.

During her march to the final, Recchia had to overcome Austria's Bettina Plank, who is currently ranked third in the world.

The Frenchwoman managed to survive the partisan atmosphere created by the home crowd, navigating her way through a potentially difficult contest to win 5-1.

Recchia then required an ippon in the dying seconds of her semi-final to beat Malaysia's Segaran Shree Sharmini and book her place in the final.

Japan's Miho Miyahara will be Recchia’s opponent after she defeated Egyptian Radwa Sayed in the last four.

Elsewhere in today’s action, England’s Jordan Thomas secured his place in the final of the men’s under 67kg tournament.

Thomas defeated Venezuela's Andres Madera in the semi-final after managing to expertly defend an early yuko to win 1-0.

Earlier in the day, the Englishman produced arguably the performance of the week so far as he dumped out Brazil's Vinicius Figueira, the favourite, 8-0.

His opponent on Saturday (October 29) will be Hungary's Martial Yves Tadissi, who won this event at the most recent Karate 1-Premier League meeting three weeks ago in Okinawa and secured his place in the final by beating Turkey's Burak Uygur.

In the second men’s event of the day, Iran's Amir Mehdizadeh defeated France's Sofiane Agoudjil to advance to the under 60kg final.

Mehdizadeh will be aiming to win his third World Championships medal having claimed gold four years ago and a bronze in 2014.

He will now face the 2014 runner-up Geoffrey Berens in the final after the Dutchman narrowly overcame Azerbaijan's Firdovsi Farzaliyev.

The team kata elimination competitions in both men’s and women’s disciplines brought the day’s action to a close.

Japan booked their place in the final of the men's competition with a sublime 5-0 victory over defending champions Spain.

They will meet France in the final after the European nation defeated Egypt, the 2014 world silver medallists, 3-2.

In the women’s event, Spain eased into the gold medal contest with a 5-0 win over Turkey, who had earlier knocked out defending champions Germany.

Joining them in the final on Sunday (October 30) will be 2014 silver medallists Japan, who edged past Italy 3-2 in their respective semi-final.

For a full run-down of results from today's action, see our Live Blog here.