In explaining the pull-out, China Badminton Association Secretary General Liu Fengyan cited 'a hectic calendar, risk of aggravating injuries and an upcoming three-month training camp'.

It means the US$500,000 (S$746, 838) tournament will be played without Olympic men's singles champion Lin Dan, men's doubles silver medallists Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, and women's doubles gold medallists Du Jing and Yu Yang.

In the women's singles, Zhu Lin and Lu Lan are the notable absentees.

China will also not feature in the first two opening legs of the 2009 Super Series season in Malaysia (January 6-11) and South Korea (January 13-18).

Badminton World Federation Secretary-General Stuart Borrie put a brave face on the snub.

'We are disappointed that some of the top players will not be competing in this inaugural event,' he said.

'However, we still have a world class field of players. The BWF is confident that the tournament will be a success and look forward to a great week of badminton ahead of us.'

Several other withdrawals have also been received, notably from reigning Olympic mixed doubles champions Lee Yong-Dae and Lee Hyo-Jung of South Korea, as well as former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia.

Only the top eight players from the 12 legs of this year's Super Series get to feature in the finals, being held in Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia from December 18-21. -- AFP