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JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia: China's top shuttlers have joined Indonesia's star players in skipping this week's Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super Series Masters Finals in Malaysia's Johor state.
China's world champions Lin Dan and doubles pair Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng will not take part in the December 2 to 6 event, joining opt-outs Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso from Indonesia, organisers said.
Men's doubles pair Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, the reigning Olympic champions, are staying away along with women stars including world number-one Wang Yihan of China, and defending champion Zhou Mi from Hong Kong.
BWF official S. Selvam said the Chinese and Hong Kong shuttlers are representing their countries in the December 5-13 East Asian Games in Hong Kong while Indonesia is prioritising the biennial SEA Games in Laos December 9-19.
"Despite the absence of some of the key players from China, Indonesia and Hong Kong, the Masters Finals is still a top-notch tournament that offers the biggest prize money in badminton," he said of the US$500,000 event.
Heading the line-up is Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, the current men's world number-one who beat Denmark's Peter Gade in the finals of the inaugural championships in Kota Kinabalu last year to pocket US$40,000 - his biggest pay cheque yet.
Gade will be in Johor to see if he can dislodge the big names in his bid for the title, joined by fellow Dane Jan Jorgensen who is in strong form along with Indonesian ace Taufik Hidayat and China's Bao Chunlai.
Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana, South Korea's Park Sung-Hwan and Hsieh Yu-hsin of Taiwan are also in the line-up.
Recent China Open winners Lee Yong-Dae and Jung Jae-Sung from Korea, who finished runners-up in the inaugural Masters Finals last year, are strong contenders for the men's doubles title this year.
With the withdrawal of several big names last year, Malaysia achieved a rare triples success in a major tournament when they walked away with the men's doubles title through Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong while Wong Pei Tty and Chin Eei Hui took the women's doubles.
The draw for the finals will be made on Tuesday.
- AFP/yb
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