Marika Teini, Finland, won the first qualifying heat before Megan Carter Davies, Great Britain.
Tove Alexandersson had third time, seven seconds behind Teini.
Sara Hagström moved on as fourth and Lisa Risby as sixth.
In the second qualifying heat, Hanna Lundberg was superior.
The Swede was 22 seconds ahead of Karolin Ohlsson and Swiss Simona Aebersold.
Emma Bjessmo finished fifth and is also ready for the afternoon race.
Lina Strand, second after Alexandersson in Thursday's individual sprint, took home the third qualifying heat.
On the men's side, Martin Regborn impressed the most when he won the first qualifying heat.
Norwegian favorite Kasper Fosser won the second heat, where Emil Svensk finished fourth.
In the third heat, Jerker Lysell finished second and Gustav Bergman moved on as ninth.
It is noteworthy that strong names such as Yannick Michiels, Belgium, and Daniel Hubmann, Switzerland, did not advance from the qualifiers.
SEE MORE: The expert explains: This is how knockout sprint works
Javascript is disabled
Javascript must be turned on to play video
Read more about browser support
The browser is not supported
SVT does not support playback in your browser.
We therefore recommend that you switch to a different browser.
Read more about browser support
The expert explains: How the orienteering branch knockout sprint works Photo: Bildbyrån / SVT