Blais, skating in heat two, produced a time of 2min 31.829sec to comfortably advance to the next round at the Ice Arena in the Polish town of Tomaszów Mazowiecki.

She was followed by Rina Yamana of Japan, who despite finishing as runner-up in the heat, ended with the second fastest time by clocking 2:31.917.

South Korea's Kim Ji Yoo and Russia's Yuliia Beresneva also showed their potential by winning their respective heats in times of 2:32.890 and 2:32.458 respectively.

All four skaters also progressed beyond the first round of the 1,000m event, with Hungary's Petra Jaszapati heading the standings on this occasion.

Jaszapati won her heat in a time of 1:35.052 to comfortably progress.

France's Selma Poutsma and United States' Maame Biney posted the pick of the times in the women's 500m, as they ended in 44.770 and 44.846 respectively.

There were promising signs for South Korea in the men's 500m event, with the top three times coming from their skaters.

Park Jang Hyuk delivered the fastest time by clocking 42.303, with team-mates Lee June Seo and Hong Kyung Hwan not far adrift in 42.334 and 42.393 respectively.

The trio would also win their 1,000m heats, with Hong recording the quickest time by clocking 1:28.330 for the distance.

He would set himself out as the skater to beat at the Championships, after being the only athlete to dip under 2:17 in the men's 1,500m qualifying.

Hong produced a blistering time to win in 2:16.095.

Competition will continue tomorrow.