The show must go on… for at least one more night, that is. Jeopardy!‘s Tournament of Champions continued on Monday, March 18, and ended in a runaway that notched another much-needed victory for one of the finalists.
Coming into night five of the tournament, Ben Chan had an edge over fellow contestants Yogesh Raut and Troy Meyer with two wins to their single victories (making him one away from taking the whole shebang and notching a spot in Jeopardy! Masters Season 2).
However, the other players were far from out of the running, and after this episode, he’s got some real competition to speak of as it’s a match point for not one but two contestants.
Right from the start, things seemed to be going Raut’s way, as he earned $8,800 to Chan’s $4,800 and Meyer’s $3,600 in the first round. It was the second round, however, that really cemented his victory as an inevitability, with Raut getting the second Daily Double and deciding to make it a True Daily Double by putting his entire $15,200 winnings in, well, jeopardy.
Luckily, the wager paid off for him, and he ended up going into the final with a runaway $38,800, which trounced Meyer’s $16,800 and Chan’s $9,200 and left them no avenue to win — so long as Raut declined to wager anything in Final Jeopardy, of course.
The Final Jeopardy category of the day was “Eurasia,” and the clue was, “Zvartnots International Airport serves this capital & has the code EVN, all letters found in the city’s name.”
In the end, while Chan and Meyer got it right (“What is Yerevan, Armenia?”), Raut didn’t answer the Final Jeopardy question correctly, instead writing a quippy remark about his gameplay: “What Can I do my Game 1 wager over again?” Since the bet was $0, though, it didn’t matter.
Raut ended the night with $38,800, with Meyer in second with $18,401 and Chan in third with $16,801.
Reacting to Monday’s results, one fan praised Raut’s performance, writing, “Yogesh woke up, chose violence, cooked, burned up the podium, and destroyed the buzzer … He is on fire, congrats to him.” Another added, “Dominant game by yogesh. New front runner?”
With that, both Yogesh and Chan have two victories apiece, while Meyer trails with one. It takes three to take the tournament title, though, so the trio of finalists will face off once again on Tuesday night.
Some hope to see the race come down to a photo finish with a Meyer victory to tie it up, with one viewer writing, “Please let Troy win tomorrow so we get a gut churning game 7 (sorry to the contestant who had to actually live this though!).”
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