Poncha places 46th

India's best hope Rehan Poncha improved his personal best by almost a second in his favourite event, the 200 metres butterfly stroke, at the World Swimming championships in Barcelona on Tuesday but his timing was nowhere near the Olympic qualifying mark he had set out to achieve.

Poncha clocked 2 minutes 08.05 seconds, substantially better than his previous best of 2 minutes 09.02 seconds, but his 46th position in the qualifying rounds took him nowhere.

The Olympic qualifying mark for the event is 2:04.56 seconds.

Ambica Iyenger also bettered her personal best in the women's 200 metres freestyle but finished a poor 52nd in a field of 65 swimmers, Virendra Nanavati, secretary general of the Swimming Federation of India, who is accompanying the Indian team in Barcelona, said.

Ambica completed the race in 2 minutes 13.63 seconds, which is almost two seconds quicker than her best.