With the Physical: Asia finale drawing ever closer and just four teams left in the competition, we’ve put together a breakdown of winner predictions, based on the previous results and what the fans are theorizing.
Physical: 100 took the world by storm when it debuted on Netflix in 2023, and the same can be said for last year’s Season 2. The Korean reality series sees 100 athletes of varying ages, physiques, and genders going head to head in grueling challenges to win a huge cash prize.
Now, it’s the turn of spinoff Physical: Asia, involving teams of six contestants from eight countries (Korea, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia, Australia, and Turkey) as they battle it out to be crowned the strongest nation and win one billion won ($700,000).
Part 3 landed on Netflix on November 11, with the fourth and final batch of episodes coming next week. Until then, here are our predictions of who might take home the gold.
Physical: Asia winner prediction
Our top bet is on Team Korea winning Physical: Asia.
Right now, there are four teams in the running: Australia, Japan, Mongolia, and Korea. Japan won Quest 4 – the Battle Rope Relay – meaning the remaining three teams will enter a Death Match in Episode 10, and the group that comes last will be eliminated.
Here’s the kicker: what the contestants didn’t know beforehand is that the three they picked for the Battle Rope Relay will not be allowed to compete in the Death Match. Essentially, the teams are split in half for both challenges.
And since the Death Match involves pushing a whopping 1,200kg pillar for 100 laps, the teams are going to want their strongest players on the job. Korea preempted this and kept some of its strongest players out of the Battle Rope Relay, meaning they have a pretty solid team for the pillar push.
The same can’t be said for Mongolia and Australia. Now, the latter has won so many games at this stage, so it’s understandable that many people think Australia will win Physical: Asia.
However, a number of Redditor detectives have analyzed the footage in the trailer and at the beginning of Episode 1, and some believe to have found what looks like the Australia team hitting their clay torsos with Mongolia in the background.
With this in mind, these are the teams we think will make it through to Quest 5:
- Team Mongolia
- Team Japan
- Team Korea
Korea has proven a worthy competitor, even shifting more cargo than Australia in the Shipwreck Transportation Match.
The team’s smart thinking in the Battle Rope Relay could be the edge they need to win. Plus, Physical: 100 loves a rug pull, and given Australia’s often seen as the frontrunner, Korea coming in first place could be Physical: Asia’s final surprise.
Of course, none of this is set in stone (or clay) – all we can do is speculate at this point. But already fans have their thoughts on who they think will take home the gold.
Physical: Asia fans vote for their winner
The consensus online is there is no consensus, but generally Physical: Asia fans are hoping for Team Mongolia to be the underdog winners. In a winner prediction poll, Mongolia got the most votes (202 out of 542).
Team Japan came second (152 votes), Team Korea third (136 votes), and Team Australia last (52 votes) – the latter is no doubt (at least in part) due to the Episode 1 footage.
Taking to Reddit, one wrote, “We should just skip to Australia winning it all tbh they’re too OP.” But another pointed out, “I mean, Korea had a better ship cargo weight and Turkey was top in the 1st challenge.”
A third added, “The show tends to do ‘Cinderella run’ editing making the viewers think a struggling team would lose but ends up winning lol so I think that Korea is going through. They have done this in the previous episodes.”
As said, many think Australia could be eliminated after the Death Match, leaving Korea, Japan, and Mongolia to battle it out for first place. “I’m Australian but I think the top 3 will be Korea, Japan and Mongolia,” said one. “I low key want Mongolia to win, they are always smiling.”
“I want Mongolia to win! but I feel like Australia has a chance to become the winner,” said another, to which a third added, “Australia goes out. People analysed footage and they saw Whittaker breaking his torso. Also they are the lightest team for a task requiring strength endurance.”
A fourth chimed in, “I’m rooting for Japan, they’re just my personal favs and seem to be well balanced. Soichi and Itoi are INSANE.
“I love Mongolia, too, but they’re top heavy. Adiyasuren and Enkh-Orgil are beasts! But the volleyball and basketball players don’t contribute as much, so I don’t see them making it past Final 3. Australia might actually be cooked.”
“We saw shots of Australia hitting their clays and with Mongolia in the background, so we can now assume they lost,” said another. “Unless Korea fumbled and that shot of Aus hitting his torso is of the next game.”
But their comment received the following response: “Korea is not fumbling. And Mongolia is just stronger and heavier. And people did see Mongolia doing another task. (Leg analysis lol). I think the Aussies made a big mistake.”
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