South Africa went down 5-4 on penalty strokes to New Zealand in the play-off for ninth-10th spot at the Hero Honda World Cup men’s hockey tournament in New Delhi, India on Friday.

Our men had started the tournament with losses to Spain, England and Australia before hitting back to beat Pakistan and then drawing with hosts India in their final group game.

But the final fixture was a game too far, as they ended regulation time locked at 4-4 after training 1-0 at halftime.

The South African goals came from Justin Reid-Ross, Llloyd Norris-Jones, Taine Paton and Thomas Hammond.

It certainly wasn’t all doom and gloom for the South Africans, who bounced back well after their 12-0 thrashing at the hands of the Australians.

They also equalled their best ever finish at a World Cup by ending 10th, just as they did in 1994.

Norris-Jones and Marvin Harper were our joint top-scorers of the tournament with three apiece.