Rehan Poncha again showed his class, this time equalling the national record en route to a top place finish in 400 metres individual medley as Karnataka continued their march, winning 13 of the 16 gold medals decided on the second day of the Junior National aquatic championships in Delhi on Wednesday.
Karnataka took their overall medal tally to 23 gold, way ahead of second-placed Maharashtra, who have four gold.
Tamil Nadu are placed third with three gold medals.
The teenager from Karnataka, who set a new mark in the 200 metres individual medley in the boys' group I yesterday, was some 30 metres ahead of teammate S Srinivas when he stopped the clock at 4 minutes 42.57 seconds to equal Karnataka's J Abhijith's record, set in the SAF Games in 1995.
In the process, he also erased Abhijith's junior national record of 4:46.82 set in 1995.
In the girls' under-17 section, the star of the show was Karnataka's V Sivranjani, who took her gold medal tally to three. She won the 800 metres freestyle and 400 metres individual medley to add to the 200 metres individual medley gold won yesterday.
In water polo, Bengal and Kerala posted their second consecutive wins in the boys' section to brighten their chances of progressing to the next stage.
The Bengal boys, who thrashed Karnataka 19-1 yesterday, were again in superb form and routed Punjab 14-0.
Kerala beat Manipur 13-4 after edging Maharashtra 10-9 yesterday.
In the girls' section, Bengal beat Karnataka 5-4 in a close contest while Maharastra, who drew 5-5 with Kerala in their first match, defeated Manipur 13-4. For Karnataka it was the first reverse after beating hosts Delhi 8-1 yesterday.
