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She is also hoping to exorcise the memories of two nightmarish defeats that have haunted her since the 2004 Games.
Four years ago in Athens this same month, Li carried the hopes of Singapore on her shoulders as she sought to deliver the Republic's first Olympic medal in 44 years. But she faltered, first against North Korea's Kim Hyang Mi, and then against South Korean Kim Kyung Ah.
She began both matches convincingly, but appeared to hit a wall as the matches wore on, and eventually lost.
Four years on, with a silver medal from the women's team competition already in the bag, she is looking a touch more relaxed in her third attempt at winning an individual Games medal.
Though her day began with a tough battle against Hong Kong's Lin Ling yesterday morning, Li hung on and managed to edge out her opponent with a nail-biting 4-3 victory.
The Singapore player had a relatively easier time later in the evening, beating Wang Chen of the United States 4-1 to claim a semi-final berth.
'For these Olympics, I have told myself that I must have this 'sure-win' mentality because this could be my last Olympics,' Li said.
'As far as I'm concerned, the team silver medal is already history. I really hope to win one more medal for Singapore.'
Her quest will not be an easy one. The three other players who qualified for the semi-finals are from the unbeaten Chinese team, including defending Olympic champion and world No 1 Zhang Yining.
Li will take on Zhang in the first semi-final this morning, while Wang Nan will battle compatriot Guo Yue in the other.
Li's coach, Liu Guodong, reckoned that the Singapore paddler is facing an even tougher field this year compared to Athens, when Zhang was the only top Chinese player in the semi-finals.
Said Liu: 'This time, it's even more difficult (for Li to win) because there are three Chinese players on home soil. If Jiawei had an 80 per cent chance of winning a medal four years ago, this time I think she has about a 30 per cent chance.
'But if you seize the 30 per cent chance well, it could still be 100 per cent.'
Li admitted that it will not be easy taking on Zhang, or any of the other Chinese players. To beat Zhang, the Singapore paddler said she will have to bring her best game while reducing the number of unforced errors to a minimum.
'No matter which Chinese player you are up against, it won't be easy and you will have to go all out,' Li added. 'I'm confident.'
Zhang fought off a gutsy challenge from Singapore's rising star Feng Tianwei in a quarter-final match yesterday. The turning point came in the third game when Feng, with a 10-8 lead and the match tied at 1-1, failed to finish off her opponent.
Zhang rallied to claim the game 14-12, as well as the next two games in a 4-1 victory. The game against Feng was undoubtedly the toughest so far for the Chinese top seed, though she can always count on a fiercely partisan crowd to rally behind her.
A reporter asked Li, who was born in Beijing but moved to Singapore when she was 14, how many people she thought would cheer for her in today's match.
'I think all four million Singaporeans would cheer for me,' she responded.
