Lithuania’s Ieva Serapinaite impressed in the women's semi-finals in Albena ©UIPM/Filip Komorous

Lithuania’s Ieva Serapinaite earned an advantage over her nearest rivals after a strong semi-final performance at the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) World Cup in Albena.

Serapinaite secured a 10-point advantage by leading the fencing ranking round in the Bulgarian city, achieving 24 wins in her contests.

The second fastest time in the swimming section boosted her position in semi-final A, before she completed the laser run in 12min 43.20sec.

Serapinaite finished the semi-final with a score of 1,067 points.

Britain’s Charlie Follett and Turkey’s Ilke Ozyuksel matched Serapinaite’s total in the first semi-final.

Jessica Varley of Britain, Germany’s Rebecca Langrehr, Czech Republic’s Veronika Novotna and South Korea’s Sunwoo Kim tied for first place in semi-final B.

The quartet ended with 1,065 points to secure places in the 18-athlete final.

The top 18 athletes across the two semi-finals advanced to the final stage of competition ©UIPM/Filip Komorous
The top 18 athletes across the two semi-finals advanced to the final stage of competition ©UIPM/Filip Komorous

Britain will be represented by four athletes in the final with Kerenza Bryson and Olivia Green also advancing.

France’s Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist Elodie Clouvel was another athlete to safely advance to the final stage of the competition.

The men’s semi-finals are set to take place tomorrow.

Both the men’s and women’s finals are then due to be held on Saturday (May 14).

The World Cup event is scheduled to conclude with the mixed relay on Sunday (May 15).