The tiny Asian island city-state, which has a population of less than five million, won a silver medal in the women's team table tennis event at Beijing in 2008 but they are desperate to claim the country's first individual Olympic medal since weightlifter Tan Howe Liang took the silver at Rome in 1960.

Table tennis players Feng Tianwei, Sun Beibei, Wang Yuegu and Yu Mengyu, swimmer Li and shooter Jasmine Ser have been identified as potential medallists and included in a new scheme, the Olympic Pathway Programme (OPP) which is funded by the Tote Board and Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS).

Teo Ser Luck, the senior Parliamentary Secretary for the MCYS, said: "With so much money pumped in, we are targeting an individual medal at the 2012 London Games.

"The amount for the OPP is one of the highest in support of our Olympic athletes.

"We will build an eco-system and athletes can hire the best coaches, therapists and psychologists, and this will help benefit the teammates and sport."

Selection for the programme is based on criteria such as an athlete's world ranking and results at major international meets.

A steering committee led by Teo oversees the OPP, assisted by three sub-committees in the areas of athlete identification, training and development, and sports medicine and sports science support.

A joint management team comprising a representative from the respective national sports association (NSA), coach and an official from the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) will manage the fund for each athlete.

They will monitor his or her progress on a regular basis.

Regular performance reviews will be submitted to the training and development sub-committee.

Earlier this week, the SSC revealed that a total of $50.22 million (£23.5 million) will be distributed to 63 NSAs this year, a 6.9-per-cent increase from last year.

Last month, the Singapore National Olympic Council revealed that Olympic-bound athletes would received additional support from a new scheme, the Singapore Olympic Foundation, which aims to raise between $5 million (£2.3 million) and $10 million (£4.6 million) from companies to support the development of young athletes.

Teo: "The OPP will add to the annual funding that SSC gives out, along with the Singapore Olympic Foundation."

A planned Singapore Sports Institute, which will be located at the $1.87-billion (£876 million) Sports Hub at Kallang and is expected to be ready by early 2014 at the latest, is expected to take over the running of the OPP by 2016.

The current Olympic programme follows the success of Project 0812, a $7-million (£3.2 million) Government-led initiative to help Singapore attain medal success at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.

The women's table tennis team of Li Jiawei, Wang and Feng benefited when they returned home with a silver in 2008.

Li, who finished fifth in the women's 100 metres butterfly in Beijing, is among Singapore's brightest hopes for a medal in 2012.

She said: "This [the OPP] is very good news and it'll definitely help me.

"I will grab this opportunity and I hope to help Singapore reap the rewards in London."