United World Wrestling (UUW) has said the absence of Chinese wrestlers is a blow for the competition, with North Korea and Turkmenistan having already withdrawn due to the coronavirus.

More than 70,000 people have now been infected around the world by the virus - given the official name of COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation - with 1,776 deaths so far.

China has been the country most impacted by the outbreak, which began in the city of Wuhan.

"The wrestlers are disappointed for sure, but I think they are fine now," a Chinese federation spokesperson said by email, according to the UWW.

"They will prepare for the future event."

The UWW added there have been no reports of any wrestlers from any of the countries contracting the illness.

Several wrestlers have also withdrawn from the Asian Championships due to the Olympic qualification tournament taking place next month.

The UWW says 16 medallists from the last Asian Championships will still be present in New Delhi, including several world champions.

Kawai will feature as part of a strong Japanese team as she seeks a third continental title and warms up for her Olympic title defence in the women’s 63-kilogram division at Tokyo 2020.

Her younger sister Yukako, Mayu Mukaida and Miho Igarashi will also compete for Japan’s team as they seek to dominate the women’s competitions.

Tynybekova became Kyrgyzstan's first-ever world champion last year with victory in the women’s 62kg division.

She will head into the event expecting to retain her Asian title.

Two-times world champion Fumita will compete in the men’s 60kg Greco-Roman event in New Delhi, where the Japanese star will hope for a repeat of his title-winning performance in the city in 2017.

Hosts India will also have high hopes at the Championships, with Deepak Punia, Ravi Kumar and Rahul Aware leading their challenge in men’s freestyle competitions.

Punia won World Championships silver in the men’s 86kg event last year, while Kumar and Aware came away with bronze in the 57kg and 61kg events respectively.

The latest of the continental championships will begin tomorrow at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, with two days of Greco-Roman events being held.

Women’s freestyle competition will take place on February 20 and 21.

The Asian Championships will conclude with men’s freestyle competition on February 22 and 23.