Physical: Asia Episode 8 recap: A disqualification, a redemption, and a leap to victory

Episode 8 of Physical: Asia begins with the Hanging Endurance Match between Türkiye, Japan, and Mongolia — before moving through a Sack Toss heat, a double-bracket hand-wrestling event, and the vertical-jump finale that seals Australia’s group win.

What began as a test of physical strength quickly turns into a mental war of survival, pushing each competitor past the limits of pain, patience, and focus.

Physical: Asia - Group B’s Hanging Endurance Challenge

The hour opens inside the arena with the final Hanging Endurance Challenge still underway.

Competitors are suspended by strips of fabric, gripping through exhaustion.

Japan’s Nonoka Ozaki loses sensation in her hands,

“Weirdly enough, I had lost all feeling in my fingers. So I had to use all of my strength just to keep holding on.”

Her teammates shout, “Hang on, Nonoka!” and moments later, she lets go. 

“Japan’s down!” a voice calls as Mongolia and Türkiye remain aloft.

Türkiye’s Anıl Berk Baki locks eyes with Mongolia’s Lkhagva-Ochir Erdene-Ochir, mirroring his every move.

From below, Mongolia’s corner shouts,

“He’s copying me. He’s doing well. He’s a good student.”

At the 100-minute mark, both men are shaking. Anıl begins to sing a Turkish folk song to distract himself from pain.

Contestants were required to hold on to the ring using only one hand.

Due to exhaustion, Türkiye’s athlete instinctively grabs with both, and the whistle blows as they get disqualified.

Mongolia wins. “We were over the moon,” Ochir says afterward.

Türkiye’s Anıl admits,

“It was a really bad loss. I only made contact for a second. I removed it right away, but the damage was done.”

With that, Mongolia leads the group standings, followed by Türkiye and Japan.

The Sack Toss Match

Physical: Asia Episode 8 then transitions to the Sack Toss Heat — a 4-metre hurdle and a 14-kilogram sack separating three nations.

Türkiye’s Ogeday Girişken, Mongolia’s Orkhonbayar “Bökh” Bayarsaikhan, and Japan’s Yoshio Itoi take the floor.

Ogeday, introduced as a former national-team rower, says,

“I had to get first place. That was all I cared about.”

Bayarsaikhan recalls,

“I’ve wrestled horses since I was a teen. I’m naturally strong, with great grip strength to boot.”

The game demands rhythm and accuracy more than brute force.

As the sack’s weight increases and the countdown shortens to 15 seconds per toss, Türkiye struggles for consistency while Japan finds steady form. 

“Throwing it higher isn’t good,” one teammate warns. “He’s wasting more energy than you!”

Japan wins the Sack Toss Match, Mongolia second, Türkiye last.

Despite Japan later placing third in the concluding Totem Pole segment, its cumulative points secured overall group victory.

Türkiye is eliminated from Physical: Asia.

During the farewell, Team Türkiye’s Recep addresses the arena:

“I wish I could say that I’m leaving here a champion. Like I said at the start, that was the whole reason we came here. For Türkiye! With strength! We fight!”

His teammates echo, “We fight!” before smashing their team totem.

The Mini Battles

The next segment introduces two mini-competitions among the four remaining teams.

The first, a one-on-one hand-wrestling bracket, pairs the contestants voted “most feared” by their peers.

Group A features Australia’s Eddie Williams vs. Korea’s Kim Min-jae. Williams wins, then defeats Japan’s Yoshio Itoi and Mongolia’s Bayarsaikhan to claim the bracket.

Group B sees Korea’s Amotti overcome UFC fighter Robert Whittaker, while Japan’s Yushin Okami beats Mongolia’s Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu.

The final face-off between Eddie and Yushin ends decisively:

“[whistle blows] The winner of the final match is Eddie Williams, Team Australia.”

Eddie smiles,

“It just goes to show how strong we are — not just physically but mentally as well.”

The Vertical Jump

The episode closes with the Vertical Jump round. Korea’s Yun Sung-bin, Australia’s Eloni Vunakece, Japan’s Katsumi Nakamura, and Mongolia’s Dulguun Enkhbat face off.

The bar starts at 3 metres and rises to 3.2.

Nakamura attempts optimistically, saying,

“Three hundred and twenty centimeters is a little too high for me. I mean, I tried to be optimistic, but that’s ridiculously high to jump.”

Eloni Vunakece removes his shirt before his final attempt,

“I’m just gonna hit it with everything I’ve got and hopefully that’s enough.”

He makes contact — the judges confirm the touch — and Australia celebrates. 

“See? Take the shirt off, it works better!” his teammate laughs.

Eloni’s victory crowns Team Australia the group winner.

Mongolia, Japan, and Korea remain as final contenders.

When the Master announces, “Among eight countries, only four of you have survived,” the flags of Australia, Korea, Mongolia, and Japan rise.

Lkhagva-Ochir remarks, 

“It feels so empty in here.” 

The remaining athletes nod — half the field gone, the stakes now higher than ever on Physical: Asia.

Stay tuned for more updates.