RIO DE JANEIRO - Defending bronze medalists Singapore overcame a tenacious South Korea side 3-2 in the women's table tennis team quarter-finals today to book a last-four encounter with defending champions China.

Singapore suffered a scare when South Korea took a 2-1 lead but eventually had enough in their armoury to pull off a comeback win and give themselves an opportunity to win yet another Olympic medal.

Singapore’s world No 4 Feng Tianwei  - the 2012 London Games singles bronze medallist who was beaten in the quarter-finals by Japan's Ai Fukuhara earlier this week - kicked off proceedings with a 3-0 win over Suh Hyo Won in the first singles match.

The next singles match between Yu Mengyu, who was also eliminated in the singles quarter-finals, and Jeon Jihee was a tense affair, as the Korean world No 11 paddler - buoyed by chants of "Daehan Minguk" from the fans in the arena – took the first two games 11-8, 11-4.

Yu was not about to give up without a fight, as the Singaporean clawed back to win the third game 11-9. But she could not stop a fired-up Jeon in the next game, and the Korean paddler claimed an 11-6 victory to even the score (1-1) for the team.

South Korean then took a 2-1 lead when its doubles pair of Yang Ha Eun and Jeon defeated Yu and Olympic debutant Zhou Yihan.

Yang and Jeon won the first two games 11-7, 11-4, before Yu and Zhou levelled the score with 11-4 and 12-10 wins. However, it was the Koreans who were celebrating after the deciding game, as they turned on their attack to clinch the win, 11-7.

With Team Singapore needing a win to avoid an early elimination, it was up to Zhou to save the day for the women's team against world No 18 Suh Hyo Wun.

The 22-year-old was quick to land the first blow against the defensive-minded Korean, clinching the first game 11-8.

But a lapse in concentration in the next game almost proved costly for the Singaporean, as she squandered an early lead to allow Suh to level the score at 9-9. But Zhou dug deep to win the game 11-9, before claiming the next one 11-9.

Feng then delivered the winning point for Singapore when she overcame Yang 11-3, 9-11, 16-14 and 11-4 in the decider.

The result means that Singapore will now face China in the semi-finals on Monday (6.30am, Singapore time). While the Republic is not expected to beat the reigning Olympic champions, they are still strong enough to stand a chance of winning the bronze medal play-off.