'Physical: Asia' Quest 5: Castle Conquest Results

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The top three countries, Japan, Mongolia, and Korea, face off in an epic showdown on the fifth quest of Physical: Asia. The two countries that survive Quest 5, the Castle Conquest, will advance to the highly anticipated finals to determine the winner. While the lowest-ranked country will be eliminated immediately. The outcome will depend on how effectively each team utilizes their physical abilities, teamwork, and strategy to complete the quest.

'Physical: Asia' QUEST 5: Castle Conquest

Prior to Quest 5, the teams competed in a pre-quest mission, the Manual Treadmill Relay, that grants a special privilege for survival in the fifth quest. As the first-place winner, Team Korea gets to view a map for the fifth quest and strategize accordingly.

THE RULES OF CASTLE CONQUEST

The Castle Conquest is a record challenge, where the countries will perform the task one by one. Each team will transport a cargo wagon filled with bags and crates, weighing a total of 2.2 tons, up a sand mound and through the castle gates to the finish line. After climbing the rope, the castle drawbridge can be lowered by pulling the lever on top of the castle wall. The gap at the end of the drawbridge must be filled with wooden beams (80kg each) before they can wheel the wagon across. The castle gates will need to be struck open with the battering ram (180kg). Upon entering the castle gates, they must cross the finish line with the front wheels of the wagon. To complete the game, they must pull the ropes inside the gates and close the drawbridge (880kg) shut. The country that takes the longest time to conquer the castle will be eliminated from the competition. The time limit is one hour. If two or more teams fail to fully raise the drawbridge within the time limit, the final ranking will be determined by the time at which the front wheels of the wagon crossed over the finish line.

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CASTLE CONQUEST RESULTS

Team Korea goes first. Once the whistle blows, Choi Seung Yeon climbs up the rope to drop the drawbridge, while the rest work on clearing the barricades. The entire team pushed the wagon with all the cargo intact, and were able to move steadily forward across the sand until the mound. When the wagon would not budge anymore, they unloaded all the bags and crates, and cleared the mound at 5 minutes and 15 seconds. After hauling and reloading the cargo, they cleared the castle gates at 11 minutes and 42 seconds. The final stretch on the sand proved to be the toughest. After moving the sand to clear the path for the wheels, they crossed the finish line at 16 minutes and 50 seconds. The final task is to close the drawbridge. Like a game of tug of war, they move further back to pull from a distance, so they can throw their full weight into it. With every pull, their combined strength lifted the drawbridge bit by bit. Quest completed with a time of 17 minutes and 53 seconds.

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Team Mongolia enters the arena next. As they said, Mongolians have long been known for conquering established castles, so there is no reason they cannot do this. Right away, they work on unloading all the cargo as quickly as possible, while Lkhagva-Ochir climbs the rope to lower the drawbridge. Working together to push the wagon, they cleared the mound at 6 minutes and 59 seconds. Then, by smartly striking just one side of the gate to focus on impact, they were able to snap the wooden drawbar easily, and cleared the castle gates at 10 minutes and 15 seconds. After reloading the cargo, they enter the castle, but the wagon comes to a halt in the sand. They focus their energy on pushing the wheels, and crossed the finish line at 16 minutes and 15 seconds, posting a faster time than Team Korea. However, they struggled with closing the heavy drawbridge, which refused to budge. Enkh-Orgil comes up with a plan to harness the weight of the battering ram along with their own. The teammates doubted it would work, but followed his orders to wrap the ropes around it. When they pressed down on the ram, the bridge that had not budged before finally lifted a little. They sat on the ram and started pulling the ropes, putting all of their body weight into it, and finally cleared the quest in 25 minutes and 15 seconds.

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Once Team Japan enters, instinct right away tells them it would be impossible to move the wagon while fully loaded. The first task was to unload some of the cargo at the start, while Nonoka Ozaki worked on lowering the drawbridge. They attempted to push the wagon with three guys, but it was not budging, so they ended up unloading everything. Utilizing teamwork to move the cargo in a relay style, they were able to make progress quickly. Before moving the wagon, they attempted to break open the castle gates first, but it showed no signs of opening. So they returned to the wagon, and cleared the mound by lifting the front wheels slightly off the ground, and pushing. While stuck at the gate, Katsumi Nakamura came up with the idea of charging into it with the wagon, and it worked. The castle gates cleared at 13 minutes and 27 seconds. To clear the finish line, they used the same partial lift strategy as before, and were able to push forward step by step. In the final task, they managed to lift the bridge up halfway by using their body weight to pull down on the ropes, but eventually physically reached their limits. Team Japan kept pulling with every last bit of strength in them until the very end, but ultimately timed out, and failed to complete the quest.

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QUEST 5 ELIMINATION

The fifth quest, the Castle Conquest, has been completed. Team Korea demonstrated their exceptional strength, skill, and strategy to win first place by a landslide, advancing to the final quest. Team Mongolia, who overcame crises with their ingenious maneuvers, placed 2nd to also advance to the final quest. Team Japan was unable to complete the quest, and has been eliminated from Physical: Asia. They fought with everything they had, and will rise above this defeat. Go, Japan!

Image Source: Netflix