The Chinese trio were thought to have withdrawn in protest at the decision to remove Liu Guoliang as head coach of the men's team and instead name him vice-president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA).

Their actions breached section 3.5.3 of the ITTF rules requiring that states: "Players do their upmost to win a match and shall not withdraw except for reasons of illness or injury".

None of the three provided any immediate explanation for why they did not turn up for their matches, but did then speak to the ITTF Disciplinary Commission.

The Commission decided that "due to the three players let down the global fans at the China Open due to their actions, and damaged the reputation of the ITTF, that a one month suspension would have been justified".

It added: "However due to the players’ explanations, both their own and CTTA’s assurances that such behaviour will not be repeated, the three players will not receive any suspension, and will be fined $20,000 each for breaching section of 3.5.3 of ITTF rules.

"The decision of the disciplinary panel is effective immediately due to the players have not appealed the decision, which is their constitutional right and have accepted their punishment.

"The ITTF is looking forward to welcoming Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin back to the ITTF World Tour and for the three icons of the sport to be role models for the millions of table tennis players across the world."

The fines are relatively minimal when compared with the incomes of top Chinese table tennis players, who are among the highest-paid sport's stars in the country.

It is still substantial, however, considering that prize money in table tennis is lower than other sports.

Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov received $25.000 (£19,000/€21,000) for winning the China Open following the withdrawals.

Ma is the reigning world and Olympic singles and team champion and the widely considered best player in the sport.

Fan was narrowly beaten in a thrilling seven-set World Championship final by his team-mate this year and won the 2016 Men's World Cup. 

Xu in a world bronze medallist and member of the team which claimed the Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016.

All three players were thought to be upset at the sudden departure of their longstanding coach Liu, the Atlanta 1996 singles and doubles champion, who was thought to have been removed as part of a political reshuffle.

"These reforms will better prepare the Chinese team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo," a CTTA spokesperson said at the time.

Ma suffered his first loss to a non-Chinese player in five years when beaten by Germany's Timo Boll in the semi-finals of the ITTF World Cup in  Liège earlier this month.

It had been his first international appearance since his China Open withdrawal, although there were rumours he was struggling with injury.

Fan also produced a below par performance in losing to team-mate Lin Gaoyuan in the final of Asia Cup in September.

China's two-time Olympic champion and leading women's coach, Kong Linghui, was also sent home from the World Championships in Düsseldorf in June after being sued by a Singapore hotel casino for allegedly failing to repay a gambling debt.

Kong, winner of the men's doubles gold medal at Atlanta 1996 and the singles title at Sydney 2000, was in the German city as head coach of the Chinese women's team.

According to a court case filed in Hong Kong, the 41-year-old signed an agreement in February 2015 to borrow S$1 million (£567,000/$721,000/€645,000) from the Marina Bay Sands hotel to establish him as a "premium player".

He had supposedly since repaid only S$545,625 (£309,000/$393,000/€352,000).