Coach A Arul Selvaraj’s men conceded three first half goals and found it hard to claw their way back after Bradley Sherwood opened the South Africans’ account with a field goal as early as the eighth minute.

A Guy Morgan 16th-minute penalty corner and a Nqobile Ntuli field goal in the 25th minute gave the Speedy Tigers a mountain to climb before the break.

Although fullback Razie Rahim nicked a goal for the Speedy Tigers off a penalty corner in the 34th minute, South Africa pulled away for a 5-1 lead through Keenan Horne in the 42nd minute and Mustaphaa Cassiem a minute later.

Undaunted, Razie netted a second goal for the Speedy Tigers when he converted a penalty stroke in the 44th minute.

But South Africa were not done yet and made it 6-2 in the 56th minute through a Sherwood field goal, his second of the match.

Malaysia narrowed the deficit to 3-6 a minute later with a field goal by Firhan Ashari but South Africa were already home and dry by then.

“My players and I are very disappointed with the result because we lost focus in the first two quarters.

“We tried to stage a fightback in the third and fourth quarters but South Africa played way better than us,” Arul Selvaraj said in a video clip shared by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation today.

The defeat means Malaysia will meet either Japan or India in the 13th to 16th placing match on Saturday.