It was disappointment for the South Africans as despite more possession and large amounts of control it was Japan who emerged victorious 2-1 after trailing 1-0 at half time.
Both South Africa and Japan would have been disappointed with their place in the 7th Place playoff, but both were desperate to end the tournament on a high and maintain their place in the FIH Nations Cup.
South Africa, who have struggled at the set piece in this tournament, were delighted to take the lead early on through a Calvin Davis penalty corner fired into the bottom left corner. South Africa were the controlling possession but the Japanese were the team creating on a regular basis testing the African defense.
The game was incredibly tense as both teams were desperate to avoid relegation. South Africa continued to dictate the play but they were unable to make the chances count but had answered the first half defensive questions to lead by 1-0.
A problem that had plagued the South Africa throughout the tournament came back to bite again as despite the possession advantage and control outside the circle meant little as the Japanese pulled level with a bullet of a strike.
It got worse just before the end of the third quarter when space in the circle gave Japan the chance to go ahead and they made no mistake, leading 2-1.
South Africa produced a grandstand effort to try and level and won a succession of late penalty corners. The best was saved on the line from Tanaka as Japan maintained their status in the FIH Nations Cup.
South Africa will now turn their attention to the African Cup of Nations in October in a bid to qualify for the FIH Hockey World Cup
FIH Hockey Nations Cup