Scotland ended their World Cup qualifier series on a high after scooping a bronze medal with a surprise penalty shoot-out victory against China in Invercargill.

The Scots were held to a 2-2 draw in normal time before edging their Chinese opponents, ranked 11 places higher in the world rankings, 5-3 in the penalty shoot-out with Ross Stott scoring the winning penalty.

Scotland were seeded fifth for the tournament but can now expect a significant boost from their current position of 24th when the revised world rankings are published and Scottish Hockey performance manager Callum McLeod was quick to praise the team's progress under interim coach Russell Garcia.

"It was a fantastic result to finish third in New Zealand," said McLeod.

"To finish ahead of China, who are ranked eleven places above us, is an exceptional achievement.

"Although praise should go out to the whole team, Ross Stott was consistently excellent throughout the tournament and it was fitting that he should score the final penalty to win the bronze medal."

Scotland had thrown away a lead in their 2-1 defeat by China earlier in the tournament and looked like they might do the same again after Yixian Liu cancelled out Stephen Dick's first-half strike.

But this time Scotland went ahead again when Dick intercepted a loose pass and played in Kenny Bain who made no mistake with his volley.

The Chinese fought back hard and scored a deserved equaliser through Fenghui Lu's deflected shot but Scottish keeper Allan Dick was in inspired form and kept out a number of efforts in the remainder of the half and in extra time before saving a vital penalty in the shoot-out.