IF Malaysia are to achieve their revised six-gold medal target at the Commonwealth Games, it will very much hinge on the performance of the diving team.
The divers have always been a reliable provider of gold for Malaysia at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games, and once again, they will be counted upon when the games get underway in Birmingham from July 28-Aug 8.
The diving team have consistently delivered Commonwealth Games medals since the 2006 edition in Melbourne, and Malaysia's best outing in the sport was one gold, two silver and one bronze in 2014 in Glasgow.
At the 2018 Games in Gold Coast, Australia, Malaysia also performed creditably, getting one gold and two bronze.
The gold was delivered by Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong in the women's 10m platform synchro while Leong Mun Yee-Nur Dhabitah Sabri took bronze in both the platform synchro and 3m springboard synchro.
However, much has changed in the national team with Jun Hoong and Mun Yee both retiring after the Tokyo Olympics last year.
Pandelela is still going strong while Dhabitah looked promising in stepping up to take over Mun Yee's role.
Judging from their results at the World Championships in Budapest earlier this month, the Malaysian divers seem to have the edge over their Commonwealth rivals.
The 29-year-old Pandelela showed she is still among the elite, winning the 10m platform individual bronze behind China stars Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan.
The Sarawakian, who won the World Cup gold last year, combined well with Dhabitah to bag the 10m platform synchro bronze.
And the pair will once again be counted on to deliver in Birmingham.
Malaysia Swimming (MS) secretary-general Mae Chen said: "The team's preparation has been good, especially the women, and hopefully that will extend to the Commonwealth Games as well.
"It would be safe to say that our prospects of delivering medals look promising, but in diving, nothing is ever guaranteed.
"From our results at the world meet, I would say that we are perhaps slightly ahead of the other (Commonwealth) countries.
"But we cannot really be too sure as Canada will always be strong while Australia's Melissa Wu is a very experienced competitor.
"There are a lot of factors to be taken into consideration, such as the long flight to Birmingham and being able to adapt in time as well as the growing Covid-19 situation.
"We hope that everyone stays injury free and keep up a strong immune system just so to not catch Covid-19." added Mae.
While the pair of Pandelela-Dhabitah are the ones to watch, Malaysia will also hope to nick a medal or two in the newly introduced synchro events at the games.
Besides Pandelela and Dhabitah, the other women divers in the team are Wendy Ng, Ong Ker Ying and Kimberly Bong.
The men will be represented by Ooi Tze Liang, Chew Yiwei, Syafiq Puteh, Gabriel Gilbert Daim, Jellson Jabillin, Hanis Nazirul Jaya Surya and Bertrand Rhodict.
At the other end, Malaysian swimmers face an uphill task in Birmingham.
There is, however, hope that youngster Khiew Hoe Yean, who has emerged as Malaysia's new aqua ace, will continue his rise and break a few national records.
"It's definitely hard for us in swimming, but we're hoping that Hoe Yean can outdo himself again and get another national record and maybe reach a semi-final," said Mae.
The other swimmers going to the Commonwealth Games are Arvin Shaun Singh Chahal, Bryan Leong and two-time Olympian Phee Jinq En.
The swimmers are already in Birmingham as their competition starts at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre from July 29.
The divers, though, will leave on July 29 and will only see action from Aug 4.