Horton gets burnt by Sun in sting of time

ROUND two in the “War on the Water” stoush went to China’s controversial Sun Yang at the swimming World Championships in Budapest.

But Olympic champion Mack Horton refused to take off the gloves, insisting he was more upset by his time than his nemesis denying him 400m freestyle gold at Duna Arena.

In the first final of the eightday titles, Horton had to settle for silver as Sun turned the tables on his rival, winning by almost 2½ seconds.

Australia had to wait until the last event of the opening night to add to its tally, claiming another silver after a depleted women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team just fell short of a Katie Ledecky-led United States.

The Aussie women’s sprint relay team had won every major event since 2014 but could not reel in the US without Cate Campbell, who has taken a 2017 sabbatical.

The stage was set for an explosive reunion between Horton and Sun in the 400m final after their Rio Olympics showdown.

Horton, 21, planted the seed for a rivalry for the ages when he dismissed Sun as a “drug cheat” before upsetting the defending champion to take 400m gold on Olympic debut in Brazil.

Sun served a secret threemonth suspension for testing positive to a banned stimulant in 2014.

Horton even had another chop before the world titles, saying his clash with Sun was a “rivalry between clean athletes and athletes who have tested positive”.

But Horton bit his tongue after a maiden 400m world titles medal, saying the timesheets — not Sun — bothered him most. Asked if it stung to lose to Sun, Horton said: “I think the time stings a bit more.”

Sun refused to rub the win in Horton’s face, saying “plenty of water has gone under the bridge” since Rio. AAP