The Championships were due to be held in New Delhi, India, but due to allegations of sexual misconduct and corruption within the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the UWW moved the event to Astana in Kazakhstan.

Following protests by Indian wrestlers calling for WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to be removed from the role, he has agreed to temporarily step aside until the investigations are over.

Tokyo 2020 silver medallist and three-time Asian champion Ravi Kumar Dahiya of India will miss the Championships due to an injury, while other top athletes such as Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik are set to be sidelined as well.

Despite this, India will still have World Championship medallists Deepak Punia, Anshu Malik and Sarita Mor, under-20 world champion Antim Panghal and under-23 world champion Aman Sehrawat among their squad.

Of the 30 wrestlers, 10 each will be distributed among the women's, men's and Greco-Roman categories.

Last year, India only claimed one gold medal with five silvers and 11 bronzes.

Japan, who were overall champions last year, claimed 10 golds, which was tied with Iran for most in the Championships.

Japan achieved the most points in the women's freestyle last year with 227.

The women's freestyle is set to feature six returning Asian champions.

Nonoka Ozaki of Japan is set to represent her nation at this year's competition, after winning the women's 62 kilograms freestyle title last year.

Japan are set to feature two other returning defending champions, with Remina Yoshimoto attempting to retain her 50kg title and Akari Fujinami in pursuit of another 53kg title.

Iran accumulated the most points in the men's freestyle last year with 201 points.

Rahman Amouzad, who is one of their most prominent stars and the winner of last year's men's 65kg freestyle title, is due to compete at this year's event.

China will be making their return after four years to the competition, as they missed out due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Hosts Kazakhstan will also be looking to make an impact, as they achieved five golds, eight silvers and eight bronzes last year, which was good enough for third. 

They were second in the medal table behind Iran, claiming five golds, five silvers and six bronzes.

They led the men's Greco-Roman leaderboards with 190 points as they look to improve upon their rankings in the other two categories.

The Greco-Roman competition will feature five returning gold medallists from the 2022 Asian Championships.

Kyrgyzstan duo Zholaman Dharshenbekov and Akzhol Makhmudov, who are reigning Asian champions at 60kg and 77kg respectively, will return to defend their titles.

This tournament does not directly serve as a Paris 2024 qualifier, but is an important step towards the qualifiers in Belgrade in September.

The UWW Asian Championships are set to conclude on Friday (April 14).