World record holder Japan advanced to the women's pursuit speed skating final at the Pyeongchang Winter Games on Wednesday, securing at least a silver medal in the process.

Miho Takagi, her elder sister Nana Takagi and Ayaka Kikuchi clocked 2 minutes, 58.94 seconds in their semifinal race alongside Canada at Gangneung Oval.

Japan, which had the fastest time of the semis, will race against the Netherlands in the final later Wednesday. The Netherlands clocked a time of 3:00.41 in its race against the United States (3:07.28). Canada (3:01.84) faces the U.S. in the bronze medal race.

The Takagi sisters and Ayano Sato won a World Cup meet in Salt Lake City with a world record time of 2:50.87 on Dec. 8, rewriting the world mark Japan set the previous week by 3.01 seconds.

It was the third time the Japanese team won a World Cup event in a world record time in as many meets this season.

The same lineup broke Canada's 2009 world record with a time of 2:55.77 in the Netherlands on Nov. 10 before the Takagi sisters and Ayaka Kikuchi clocked 2:53.88 the on Dec. 2 in Calgary, Canada.