Jeremie Azou, left, and Pierre Houin, right, qualified for the final of the lightweight men's double sculls ©Getty Images

France’s Jeremie Azou and Pierre Houin qualified for the final of the lightweight men's double sculls event on the opening day of the second stage of the Rowing World Cup season in Poland.

The duo, who won gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, started brightly in heat two on Lake Malta in Poznan.

There was no other crew that could hold the pace of the French although the Japanese pairing of Kazuki Nara and Hideki Omoto did attempt to.

Azou and Houin proved too strong, however, moving away from their rivals at a 38 stroke rate pace.

Joining them in the final from heat one are Irish brothers Paul and Gary O’Donovan, who came second at the Olympic Games in the Brazilian city.

The O'Donovans were run close by China's Man Sun and Junjie Fan but a late burst saw them take victory.

China’s Duan Jingli, who won bronze in the women's single sculls at Rio 2016, made it through to tomorrow's semi-finals.

The 28-year-old won her heat today in her first international outing since Rio by edging Diana Dymchenko of Ukraine, who also progressed after taking second.

European champion Victoria Thornley of Great Britain also made it through to the semi-finals from heat two.

Thornley, a silver medallist in the double sculls in Rio alongside Dame Katherine Grainger, finished 0.31 in front of New Zealand's Hannah Osborne.

Australia's Joshua Hicks, Jack Hargreaves, Spencer Turrin and Alexander Hill reached the final of the men's four ©FISA
Australia's Joshua Hicks, Jack Hargreaves, Spencer Turrin and Alexander Hill reached the final of the men's four ©FISA

In the men's singles sculls, Damir Martin of Croatia unsurprisingly dominated heat three.

The Rio 2016 silver medallist built an emphatic lead with just half the race gone and held on to beat Finland's Joel Naukkarinen to qualify for the semi-finals.

Germany’s Tim Ole Naske also advanced after he won heat four. 

Naske is the under-23 champion and last year finished in front of Martin in a long distance race in New Zealand.

He avoided a late surge from Serbia’s Marko Marjanovic to cross the line in first place.

Britain's men's four squad had no trouble qualifying for their final.

Matt Rossiter, Mohamed Sbihi, who is the only member of the Rio 2016 gold medal winning squad in action, Matthew Tarrant and Will Satch looked in fine form.

They led from start to finish against crews from France and the Czech Republic and eased into the final with the fastest time across the two heats.

They will be joined in the final by Australia's Joshua Hicks, Jack Hargreaves, Spencer Turrin and Alexander Hill after they won heat two.

Action in Poznan will continue tomorrow.