These 7 ‘Physical: Asia’ contestants are stealing the spotlight from Manny Pacquiao

Netflix reality competition series Physical: Asia may have invited eight-division world champion boxing great Manny Pacquiao to be the show’s marquee name, but the Filipino champ’s thunder has been stolen by athletes from other competing nations.

And we are not talking about Physical: 100’s South Korean celebrity alumni such as CrossFitter and Season 2 winner Amotti or Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter-cum-TV personality Kim Dong-hyun.

A spin-off of the popular Physical: 100 (2023 to 2024), Physical: Asia – which premiered on Oct 28 – has claimed the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s Top 10 Non-English Shows chart in several territories, including Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Unlike Physical: 100, where South Korea-based contestants vie for personal glory, Physical: Asia features 48 contenders representing eight nations – Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey – competing for country pride and one billion won (S$911,266).

Here are the athletes who stood out in the first four episodes. New episodes premiere on Tuesdays.

Team Thailand: James Rusameekae

The flamboyant 39-year-old of Senegalese, Thai and American ancestry made a huge impression when he sashayed into the arena dressed in a grey trench vest paired with a pair of black heels.

The former volleyball player and TV personality said during the interview segment that he has always been athletic and enjoys sports.

Rusameekae is also a boxer and once won a Thai celebrity boxing competition. He earned the nickname “Thai King Kong” because of his build and strength.

While he can look fearsome, the Chiang Mai-born athlete said in an interview segment that he is “fun-loving and outgoing”.

His sassy quips have become a highlight, like when Team Thailand faced off against host country South Korea in Quest 2: Shipwrecked Transportation Match. 

The mission involved contestants hauling 50kg wooden crates and 20kg sacks in a shipwreck structure within a 20-minute time limit.

Rusameekae said: “I’m not afraid of anything. Korea might have kimchi, but Thailand’s got som tam. Korea might have Korean Air, but we’ve got Thai Airways. And sure, you gave us Blackpink’s Jisoo, but we gave you Blackpink’s Lisa. We’re practically equals, so I say let’s go.”

Incidentally, Rusameekae, who grew up in Thailand and Sweden, is friends with the Thai K-pop idol and was her backstage guest during K-pop girl group Blackpink’s recent Deadline concert in Bangkok.

He might have joked that he is the strongest member in his team, but he certainly lived up to his nickname. He singlehandedly carried several 50kg wooden crates on his back, winning the respect of Team Korea’s captain Kim Dong-hyun.

Team Japan: Katsumi Nakamura

Japanese swimmer Katsumi Nakamura caught many contestants’ attention – and captured female viewers’ hearts – because of his idol-worthy good looks.

Team Korea’s Amotti even asked him straight up if he was a model – and was surprised to learn that Nakamura is an Olympic swimmer who represented Japan at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Nakamura, 31, started swimming when he was about 12, and later entered the School of Sport Sciences at Waseda University. 

The Tokyoite specialises in the 50m and 100m freestyle events. A member of Japan’s national swim team since 2015, he is the country’s national record holder for the men’s 100m freestyle at under 48 seconds. He also has a fitness YouTube channel.

Before Quest 1: Territory Conquest, where contestants had to fight for possession of a circular platform on top of a sand dune, Nakamura expressed concerns that the match would be brutal, adding that he had never collided or had contact with anyone in sports. 

At one point in the game when Team Japan was up against Team Korea, he was carried off like a rag doll by Physical: 100 Season 1 fan favourite Yun Sung-bin. 

Nakamura admitted that although he was terrified by the former national skeleton racer’s beast-like strength, he was determined to fight back when he saw his teammates doing their utmost to hold off their opponents. 

The heart-throb continued to pull his weight and displayed great fighting spirit, to the point of being able to pin down South Korean ssireum wrestler Kim Min-jae, who weighs 140kg.

Team Turkey: Yasemin Adar Yigit

Her mere presence invoked fear in all the female wrestlers of Physical: Asia. 

Yasemin Adar Yigit, 34, is on Turkey’s national wrestling team. She is a seven-time European champion and a two-time world champion. She also won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Beating an opponent fuels her adrenaline, she said during an interview segment. 

One outstanding moment in Quest 1 was when Yigit was tackled by an Australian athlete. The fearless Turk quickly picked herself up and charged towards three huge opposing Australians, including Eddie Williams, Australia’s Strongest Man winner, and UFC fighter Robert Whittaker.

Team Australia: Robert Whittaker

Cutting a menacing figure, UFC fighter Whittaker was dripping with confidence the moment he led his team into the arena, prompting Team Korea captain Kim to tell his teammates to check out Whittaker’s main character energy. 

“We’re leaving No. 1, that’s the only way this ends,” bragged Whittaker, 34, in a voiceover. 

Born in Auckland with Maori, Samoan and European heritage and raised in Sydney, he is known for his sportsmanship and skill in the octagon.

The famed middleweight mixed martial arts fighter with 13 years in the UFC proclaimed in his introduction segment that he fears no man, as he is built for combat. 

Whittaker, who is known for being a savage fighter, thus earning the nickname The Reaper, demonstrated his leadership qualities as he led his team to victory against Team Japan in Quest 2. 

“The key factor for winning Quest 2 was teamwork. I’m very proud of the team,” he said. 

Team Mongolia: Orkhonbayar Bayarsaikhan

The hulk-like 27-year-old is a champion wrestler who practises bokh, a traditional Mongolian wrestling sport said to have originated from founder of the Mongol Empire Genghis Khan, who initiated bokh to keep his warriors strong and fit. 

Bayarsaikhan cut an imposing figure when he led his team into the arena dressed in his traditional wrestling attire. 

He has competed in the Naadam festival five times, ranking high each time. Naadam is an annual Mongolian traditional festival that celebrates the country’s nomadic culture through horse racing, wrestling and archery. He also won the Mongolian President’s Cup wrestling tournament in 2022.

Fellow contestants, such as Team Korea’s Kim Min-jae and Team Japan’s judoka Soichi Hashimoto, commented that bokh wrestlers are known to be incredibly strong.

To Bayarsaikhan, Physical: Asia is an avenue to introduce Mongolian culture, traditions, endurance, teamwork and intelligence to the world. 

Being the captain of Team Mongolia, he demonstrated those exact qualities. He proved to be a good strategist as he led his team to victory in Quest 2 against Pacquiao-led Team Philippines. 

Team Philippines: Justin Coveney

Filipino-Australian rugby player Justin Coveney proved his worth in Quest 1, suggesting to his team to use the rugby tactic “jeepney blitz” to push their opponents off the platform. 

The strategy calls for the team to huddle up and work as a ram to bulldoze their way through opponents. 

In a rematch against opposing Team Turkey and Team Korea, Coveney took the initiative to ask Team Mongolia to join forces, so that they could create a more forceful jeepney blitz or joint scrum. Though Coveney’s strategy failed to deliver a win, the massive fight was exciting to watch.

Coveney, 40, is nicknamed The Flying Jeepney because if his rugby opponents run into him, they would know what it would be like to be hit by a barrelling jeepney, a military-sized vehicle that is iconic in the Philippines.

Born and raised in Sydney, he has been a member of the Philippine Volcanoes national rugby team since 2010.

A practising lawyer in Sydney, Coveney is the Philippines’ most-capped national rugby player and is said to be a central figure in the rise of rugby in the country. His achievements on the field included two SEA Games gold medals.

Team Mongolia: Lkhagva-Ochir Erdene-Ochir 

The 37-year-old is an acrobat, contortionist and actor who performs in Canadian contemporary circus Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza and Crystal shows.

He specialises in high-level acrobatic stunts, in particular an 11m-high stacked chair hand-balancing act. 

A founder of the acrobatic training company Acromongolia, Erdene-Ochir began training as a contortionist at nine years old.

His physique may be muscular, but Erdene-Ochir is small next to his competitors, prompting opponents such as South Korean wrestler and Physical: 100 Season 1 contestant Jang Eun-sil to underestimate his physical abilities.

Erdene-Ochir shone in Quest 2, where he demonstrated his agility and stamina, gliding through the air as he transported the crates on the zip line with ease.

This article was originally published in The Straits Times.