GOLD COAST: Ooi Tze Liang's career has been going downhill since he won the men's 3m springboard gold medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
The diver will step on the springboard to defend his title at the Optus Aquatic Centre on Thursday.
At the 2014 Glasgow edition, Tze Liang upset Jack Laugher of England for the gold.
Signs are the Malaysian will struggle in the event following his poor show in Wednesday's 1m springboard discipline.
Tze Liang finished 11th in the 1m event with a 319.00 total while debutant Syafiq Puteh (378.90) and Ahmad Amsyar Ahmad (369.40) took fifth and sixth, respectively.
"I am focused on performing well tomorrow. The poor show today will not really affect me in the 3m springboard," said Tze Liang.
"I will use my experience on the board today to do better tomorrow. It is windy in the morning and night, but I think I have adapted to the conditions here.
"As a defending champion, I will do the best I can with Laugher being the contender."
Amsyar and Chew Yiwei are the other Malaysians competing in the 3m event on Thursday.
For Syafiq, it was a memorable outing for the national back-up diver as he did better than Podium Programme divers Amsyar and Tze Liang.
Syafiq said: "I am delighted with my performance in the 1m springboard final. It is my career-best total score.
"I could have done better had I done better in two of six dives. Anyway, this performance has given me the confidence for the 3m springboard synchro (on Friday)," said Syafiq.