Prosvirnova, who was second overall at the recent European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Torino, clocked a time of 44.246sec to win heat nine.

Hungary’s Petra Jaszapati, who managed to qualify in all of the distances, produced the second quickest 500m time as she finished in 44.607.

Skaters from South Korea and China, traditionally the dominant forces in the sport, also enjoyed a comfortable first day of competition.

Yu Bin-lee of South Korea was the fastest in the 1,500m as she stopped the clock at 2:18.695.

China had the bragging rights in the 1,000m as Jinyu Li set the fastest time of 1min 32.220sec, although she was followed by a trio of South Korean skaters - Whi Min-seo, Soo Lin-han and Yu.

Liu Shaoang of Hungary, one of the leading names in the men’s events, qualified with ease in the 1,500m as he finished in 2:15.793         

The Hungarian athlete, who has been competing at senior World Cup level and was fourth at the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships, appeared to be reserving energy as he cruised into the next round.

Won Jun-moon, Si Un-kim and Noh Won-park of South Korea all progressed in the 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m races.

In the relays, South Korea and the Netherlands surprisingly failed to qualify for the next round of the women’s event, while Canada and Hungary suffered the same fate in the men’s competition.

Action in Innsbruck continues tomorrow.