World Table Tennis (WTT) announced on Wednesday that China's Fan Zhendong, Ma Long and Chen Meng have pulled out of next week's WTT Finals Fukuoka.

Ma Long of China hits a return during the men's singles semifinal against Alexis Lebrun of France at the WTT Champions Macao 2023 in Macao, south China, April 22, 2023. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka)

WTT also announced the replacement for the three Chinese Olympic champions, with Germany's Benedikt Duda stepping in for Fan, Sweden's Anton Kallberg in for Ma, and Romania's Bernadette Szocs replacing Chen.

At this year's Olympic Games, Fan claimed the men's singles gold medal before Fan, Ma and Wang Chuqin triumphed in the team event, while Chen defended her title in the women's singles event and then clinched the team gold along with Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu.

Fan and Chen have not participated in any international tournament since the Olympics, while Ma finished runner-up at the WTT China Smash in October.

The season-ending WTT tournament will be held in Kitakyushu, Japan from November 20 to 24, featuring the world's top 16 singles players and top eight doubles pairs.

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