Going into the final Group A match needing a win, world No 8 Malaysia put up a tepid performance in the first quarter which saw Australia net three early goals to snuff out any hopes the national squad had of advancing to the knockout rounds.
This means the Young Tigers will face Egypt in the 9th to 16th classification game on Monday while group runners-up Australia will challenge France in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
1997 champions Australia started today’s match aggressively when they opened the scoring as early as the second minute via a Cooper Burns penalty corner.
They then extended their lead when Jake Lambert scored a field goal four minutes later before a Cambell Geddes penalty corner made it 3-0 in the 15th minute.
The national squad bounced back with a field goal from Harris Iskandar Osman in the second quarter but Lambert capitalised on a defensive error to slot in Australia’s fourth goal in the 27th minute.
The Young Tigers countered with waves of attacks in the third quarter before grabbing their second goal through Shafiq Ikhmar Daniel but world No 9 Australia quickly replied with a penalty corner goal from Geddes a minute later.
Australia recorded their 10th victory out of 15 clashes with today’s win, while Malaysia have only won twice.
Malaysia began their campaign with a 7-1 thrashing of Chile in the first match before losing 4-0 to Argentina on Wednesday, while Australia narrowly lost 1-0 to Argentina before bouncing back with a 7-1 trouncing of Chile in the last round.
The result left the national team third in the group with three points behind Argentina (nine points) and Australia (six points).
Chile finished at the bottom of the group with no points.
Only the top two teams progress to the quarterfinals.
Malaysia’s best achievement at the JWC was second place in the inaugural edition in 1979 as well as in 1982 and 2013.
The national squad was eliminated in the quarterfinals at the last edition in Bhubaneswar, India, after losing 4-0 to France.
Earlier, defending champions Argentina demolished Chile 8-0 to top the group and book a date with Germany in the last eight on Tuesday.
Bautista Capurro was the hero with a hattrick for the world No 1 team, with field goals in the 33rd and 39th minutes before converting a penalty stroke in the 50th.
Ignacio Nardolillo in the 17th minute, Matias Rey (21st minute), captain Inaki Minadeo (55th minute), Nicolas Rodriquez (56th minute) and Marco Aguirregomezcorta (60th minute) also got on the scoresheet.
Argentina lifted the title for the second time after defeating six-time champions Germany 4-2 in the 2021 final.