Singapore's women paddlers will settle for bronze after losing 0-3 to table tennis powerhouse China at the World Team Championships in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday.

The team's top player Feng Tianwei, ranked No. 7 in the world, was the only one who managed to take a game off the Chinese. Still, she was defeated 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 to world No. 1 Li Xiaoxia.

Team-mate Yu Mengyu then lost to Ding Ning 6-11, 3-11, 6-11.

And while defensive specialist Isabelle Li showed she was not daunted by the gulf between her and world No. 5 Zhu Yuling, the Singaporean No. 159 too had no answers for the Chinese, going down 4-11, 7-11, 7-11.

As there are no playoffs for third place, losing semi-finalists will be awarded joint bronzes. Singapore were second at the last team world championships in 2012, when the team was made up of Feng and veterans Li Jiawei and Wang Yuegu.

China will play either Hong Kong or Japan in the final.