A total of 290 athletes from 17 countries will vie for the 81 gold medals on offer during the five-day event at the Ashgabat Olympic Complex.

Competitions will be held in six different combat categories - full contact, low kick, point fighting, kick light, light contact and musical form style.

Of the athletes, 242 will be men competing for honours in 55 categories, while 48 women are expected to battle it out across 26 events.

"We were able to bring together 17 countries, which is a good number for a competition of this stature," WAKO Asia President Nasser Nassiri said.

"We already organised the Asian Championships for K-1 competition last year, so continental champions in 81 disciplines, across six kickboxing categories, will be decided in Ashgabat.

"It’s a huge undertaking."

The event is one of three continental championships being held as part of the Inspiring Ashgabat Test Event Series at the Olympic Complex, which will be used at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games scheduled to take place from September 17 to 27. 

The Senior Asian Weightlifting Championships started at the Weightlifting Arena on Sunday (April 23) and run through to this coming Saturday (April 29).

The two-day Central Asian Short Course Swimming Championships are also due to begin tomorrow at the new Indoor Aquatics Centre.

Along with testing out the facilities, the series is being used as an opportunity for some of the Games volunteers, known as First Stars, to see how well prepared they are.

This year's Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games will be the fifth edition of the event and see the continent's 45 National Olympic Committees and 17 from Oceania take part.

The Games will feature 21 sports being contested across 15 venues.

All the sports except for futsal and equestrian will take place within the Olympic Complex.

After the Games, the facilities will be used as training bases for several educational institutes in the country.

Ashgabat was awarded the Games by the Olympic Council of Asia in 2010.