Australia, long regarded as a global hockey force, recorded its lowest-ever finish at the FIH Junior Men’s World Cup in Chennai, placing 11th after a 4-2 win over South Africa in its final playoff match.

England closed its campaign with a fifth consecutive victory to take 9th place as the tournament wrapped up classification rounds for positions 9 to 24. England edged past Ireland, while Australia secured 11th with its win over South Africa.

Australia’s previous lowest finish in the junior men’s event had been sixth. England’s had been 16th in 2013. For England, the 9th-place result offered some redemption, as the team finished at the top of the non-quarterfinalists with a 2-0 win over Ireland. England has never won the Junior Men’s World Cup; its best results remain two fourth-place finishes in 1997 and 2001.

England looked sharper throughout Tuesday’s match, earning 10 penalty corners to Ireland’s seven. Kaden Draysey converted a 10th-minute penalty stroke to open the scoring and added another in the 23rd minute off a penalty corner. Ireland applied pressure in the third quarter, earning five penalty corners and a penalty stroke, but England goalkeeper James Carleton denied each attempt. Strong English defense saw out the remaining minutes for a 2-0 win.

“It was a great game. Ireland put up an absolutely brilliant fight. Right till the death, it was a real battle. That’s what we expect from them. Five wins in the tournament out of six matches, but we will still get the label of 9th place, which we would want to improve upon coming back in two years,” said England captain Max Anderson.

“The lads had been absolutely brilliant. We had been building for this for three years. Some of us have played our last junior international match. A lot of disappointment early on after losing to the Dutch. We knew that (match) was going to be very important in the tournament to try and get through (to the quarter-finals). We gave it our all. I think one word to sum it all up will be ‘proud,’” he added.

Australia ended its underwhelming campaign with a 4-2 win over South Africa. The Burras entered the tournament aiming to end a 28-year title drought after last winning the Junior World Cup in 1997. They have not reached the podium since 2009.

Australia controlled most of the match, taking the lead through Duncan Jackson in the 22nd minute before South Africa equalized via Jaydon Brooker just before halftime. Patrick Andrew restored the advantage in the 35th minute, and two penalty-corner conversions in the final quarter from Dylan Brick and Matthew Hawthorne extended the lead to 4-1. Litha Kraai scored late for South Africa to end the match 4-2.

“It was definitely important for us to finish with a win. We didn’t have the best tournament that we wanted to. We just spoke about it today, that it’s the last time these 18 boys are going to play together (in this tournament). So, we decided to just have fun and enjoy the hockey that we did, and it was good to get the win,” said Australia captain Dylan Downey. “It’s the first time for me (in India). It’s very different, but the experience has been awesome.”

In the 15th-place playoff, Chile rallied to defeat Switzerland 2-1 at Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium. It was only Chile’s second win in six matches, while Switzerland, despite two group-stage victories including a 3-2 win over Chile, lost every game in the classification round.

Switzerland opened the scoring through Jens Fluck in the 18th minute, but Chile equalized before halftime via Juan Velasco Kouyoumdjian. A tense second quarter saw three yellow cards issued. Chile captain Felipe Richard scored the winner in the 40th minute, and his team held firm in a scoreless final quarter.

“We knew it was going to be a tough match. We played against Switzerland in the group stage, and I think this was our chance to win. It was tough. We really needed to defend a lot, and I think we did a great job. We are happy to achieve our goal and now need to keep improving,” said Richard.

Malaysia claimed 13th place after a shootout win over Japan, thanks largely to goalkeeper Haziq Hairul’s standout performance. Malaysia led 1-0 through Azimuddin Kamaruddin’s penalty-corner strike in the 29th minute, before Shun Hara equalized for Japan in the 53rd.

The match saw only one successful conversion out of 13 penalty corners. Hairul then blocked all three Japanese attempts in the shootout, while Danish Khairil, Addy Jazmi Jamlus, and Adam Johari scored for Malaysia.

“Thank you so much. All our players played well today; we followed our structure. Congrats to our goalkeeper (Haziq Hairul) for playing so well and getting the Player-of-the-Match award,” said Malaysia captain Khairil.

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