Behind her, Sundling had two Swedish teammates: Moa Lundgren in second place and Maja Dahlqvist in third place.
31-year-old Sundling dominated the Tour de Ski earlier in the season, and that boost seems to have paid off. She finished more than three seconds ahead of Lundgren.
A total of five Swedish skiers started in today's qualifying - Sundling, Dahlqvist, Lundgren and Moa Ilar advanced to the quarterfinals, while Evelina Crüsell was eliminated.
On the men's side, the Swedes, who are fighting for the last two Olympic tickets, also had a good qualifying performance. All six skiers advanced from the qualifying round.
George Ersson was the best Swede, finishing third.
Norway's 20-year-old super talent, Lars Heggen, was the fastest of all.
The final session starts at 4:05 p.m.
