China took an early 2-0 lead thanks to strikes from Du Taleke – later named as the tournament’s best player – and Su Jun.

The Chinese held that advantage until the first minute of the fourth quarter when a Sharil Saabah penalty corner dragged Malaysia back into the contest.

Their equaliser came five minutes from the end of the contest, with Najmi Jazlan scoring a penalty corner to force the match into a shoot-out. 

Both nations successfully converted their efforts in the first three rounds with Tengku Ahmad giving Malaysia a 4-3 lead.

A miss from China’s Meng Dihao proved decisive, with Fitri Saari scoring the decisive fifth point to give Malaysia a 5-3 victory and see them through to Hockey World League semi-finals, where they will compete for a place at the 2018 World Cup.

China will also move forward to the semi-final stage.

Egypt sealed third place in the competition after they comfortably defeated Oman 5-1.

The Egyptians held a narrow 2-1 lead going into the final quarter before scoring three times in six minutes to kill the tie.

Amr Ibrahim scored two penalty corners before Mahmoud Mamdouh completed the scoring in the final minute.

Egypt must now wait until the completion of all of the men’s round two events before knowing if they are one of the two highest ranked third placed finishers, which would see them advance to the semi-final phase.

Earlier in the day, hosts Bangladesh finished their competition on a positive note by defeating Ghana in a shoot-out.

The home favourites needed a last-minute strike from captain Rashel Mahmud to level the match at 3-3 with Krishno-Kumar Das scoring the vital goal after the shoot-out went to sudden death.

Sri Lanka sealed a seventh place finish with a 5-3 victory over Fiji thanks to a Shamika Gunawardhana double in the second quarter of the contest.

The top two from the other men’s Round Two events in Belfast and Tacarigua are certain to qualify for the semi-finals.

They will be joined by the two highest ranked third placed finishers.

The competition will determine the teams who qualify for the 2018 Hockey World Cup alongside the five continental champions and the host country.

The 2018 women’s and men’s World Cups in England and India respectively will be the first competitions staged under the expanded 16-team format, with four groups of four, allowing the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to hold the event over 16 days.

It is designed to increase the amount of spectators for the FIH’s flagship quadrennial competition outside of the Olympic Games.

Action in the Belfast stage of the competition is due to resume tomorrow following a rest day today.