Valladont reversed the lead at the recurve men’s qualifying to pip defending champion Ellison to top spot.

The Frenchman scored 749 out of a possible 864 points, just one ahead of Ellison’s tally.

The new rules introduced at this event mean that the top two-ranked athletes in each division after qualification advance automatically to the final four.

"I won in Val D’Isere in 2012, then got silver in Zagreb, then bronze in Dublin in 2016," said Valladont.

“So here I think it will either be winning again or taking fourth...

“We’ll see, but for the moment I’m happy.”

Being the top two ranked athletes also guarantees that they won't meet in match play before the final.

In the women’s recurve event, Germany’s Lisa Unruh dominated qualifying scoring 716 points to secure the top spot.

Italian archer Jessica Tomasi was second after scoring 687 points.

In the compound event, Slovenia’s Toja Ellison topped the two-day qualifying event with a total score of 815.

Paige Pearce of the United Sattes also scored 401 points to move from third to second and take the second semi-final spot.

“I’m obviously super excited to be in the top two; that was my goal,” said Pearce.

In the men’s compound event, American Steve Anderson and Croatian Domagoj Buden booked their semi-final spots with 826 points and 822 points, respectively.

The barebow competitions saw Italy’s Cinzia Noziglia score 658 points and Sweden’s Lina Bjorklund score 634 points to qualify top and secure their semi-final places.

Spanish archer David Garcia Fernandez scored 687 points to qualify in first place, followed by Sweden’s Erik Jonsson with 674.

The United States qualified top in the men’s team event, with Italy dominated the rest of the team events.

The event is due to continue tomorrow.