GOLD COAST: Malaysia's tame defeat to Singapore in women's table tennis on Thursday could turn out to be a blessing for Beh Lee Wei's side in their quest of winning a third straight Commonwealth Games team medal.
As expected, Singapore whitewashed Malaysia 3-0 in a Group One match at Oxenford Studios.
Feng Tianwei thrashed Malaysia's Ho Ying 11-3, 11-3, 11-6 before Singapore earned an unassailable 2-0 lead through Yu Mengyu who defeated Alice Chang 11-4, 12-10, 12-10.
In the doubles, Singapore's Zhou Yihan-Mengyu overcame Ho Ying-Karen Lyne 11-6, 11-5, 13-11.
Malaysia are expected to beat Fiji on Friday to qualify as group runners-up for the quarter-finals.
Lee Wei said: "We may have lost to Singapore today but being in the same group with the defending champions means we will not meet them until the final, if we get that far."
"My girls tried hard but Singapore, being the undisputed champions in the Commonwealth Games, were just too strong.
"We should easily beat Fiji tomorrow to qualify for the last-eight," said Lee Wei.
Malaysia won silver and bronze in the women's team at the 2014 (Glasgow) and 2010 (New Delhi) editions.