The election process started yesterday and is due to end on October 6 - two days before the Asian Games are scheduled to close in Hangzhou.

Athletes competing at Hangzhou 2022 will have the chance to vote for one female and one male representative from each of the five zones of the OCA.

Among the candidates include 17 that are set to participate at the Asian Games, while the others had competed at Incheon 2014 and Jakarta Palembang 2018.

Three-time Olympic table tennis champion Ding Ning of China headlines the East Asia zone as she faces competition from Chinese Taipei swimmer Huang Mei-chien for the female spot.

The male category features two shooters in Shin Hyun-woo of South Korea and Yang Kun-pi of Chinese Taipei, as well as karateka Lee Chun-ho of Hong Kong and Japanese high jumper Naoto Tobe.

Gymnast Terry Tay of Singapore is the only candidate in the male category of the South East Asia zone, while bowler Shayna Ng is another Singaporean vying for a place as she comes up against softball player Francesca Altomonte of the Philippines, Malaysian bowler Shalin Zulkifli and Vietnamese judoka Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy.

Olympic wresting bronze medallist Bekzod Abdurakhmonov of Uzbekistan has been pitted against swimmer Merdan Atayev of Turkmenistan and discus thrower Ehsan Hadidi of Iran in a bid to become male athlete representative for the Central Asia zone.

The female category includes Iranian shooter Najmeh Khedmati, Turkmen swimmer Zulhumar Dashkinova and Afghan cyclist Yulduz Hashimi.

There is just one athlete listed for the South Asia zone, London 2012 badminton bronze medallist Saina Nehwal of India, meaning she is assured of a place on the OCA Athletes' Committee.

Reigning Olympic high jump champion Mutaz Barshim of Qatar is among the candidates for the West Asia zone.

The other athletes in the male category are Olympic karate bronze medallist Abdelrahman Al-Masatfa of Jordan, boxer Mohammed Al Qarnas of Yemen, middle-distance runner Adnan Taees Akkar of Iran.

Jordanian taekwondo athlete Julyana Al Sadeq and Palestinian karateka Hala Al Qadi will go head-to-head to be the female representative for the West Asia zone.

Athletes can vote at election booths in the dining halls of the main Athletes’ Village and the five other "sub-villages" located in Tonglu, Chun’an, Ningbo, Jinhua and Wenzhou as well as three residences in Xiaoshan, Lin’an and Shaoxing.

Winners are due to be announced by the OCA on October 7.

Those elected will be expected to select a chair and vice-chair of the OCA Athletes’ Committee, with the chair securing a seat on the organisation’s Executive Board.

The 10 new members are set to be joined by four others appointed by the OCA to complete a 14-strong Athletes’ Committee.

"This is the first time the OCA has endeavoured to go ahead and do the election as per Olympic Agenda 2020+5," said OCA acting director general Vinod Kumar Tiwari.

"We are giving the voice to the athletes to select their own people from the athletes to be part of the OCA Athletes’ Committee."

It will be the first time the OCA has held an election for the Athletes’ Committee.

Japan's former sychronised swimmer Mikako Kotani currently chairs the group that features 14 other members.

The chair was previously nominated by their National Olympic Committee and elected by the OCA General Assembly, while the remaining members are selected by the organisation’s Executive Board from nominated candidates.