Hot favourite Ye Shiwen left in medley medallists' wake

China's Olympic champion Ye Shiwen finished a shock fourth in the 200m individual medley final in the world championships, while teenager Ruta Meilutyte smashed the world record in the women's 100m breaststroke semi-finals.

The 17-year-old Ye had been the hot favourite for the 200m IM final but finished a full second behind the medallists as Hungary's Katinka Hosszu claimed gold.

Hosszu, 24, won by a considerable margin, clocking 2mins 07.92secs, with Australia's Alicia Coutts second at 1.47 seconds back and Spain's Mireia Belmonte 1.53 behind.

Defending champion Ye finished more than a second behind the medalists. "I'm sure she will get back up there. She's a great swimmer and I'm sure it is really tough to get back after an Olympic gold medal," Hosszu said.

Ye has her next chance at an individual medal in Sunday's 400m IM, in which she set the world record at the Olympics last year in controversial fashion by swimming the last leg faster than Ryan Lochte did when he won the men's Olympic title.

Lithuania's teenage star Meilutyte, who pulled off a shock win in the Olympic 100m breaststroke final last year, punched the water in delight as she took a tenth of a second off the world record in yesterday's final.