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It’s not over ’til it’s over, and Friday night’s Jeopardy! contestants found that out the hard way. The episode, which aired on March 15, featured three finalists as part of its 31st Tournament of Champions series: Yogesh Raut, Troy Meyer, and Ben Chan. Coming into day four of the tournament, each of these players had already tallied one victory, but now one contestant has notched a second win, which makes him one more win away from clinching a total victory (and a spot on Jeopardy! Masters Season 2).
Throughout the night, Chan trailed his fellow contestants by a wide margin. After the Jeopardy! round, he had under $2,000 and half as many correct answers as Raut and Meyer (with $8,000 and $6,400 respectively). His fortune improved a bit in Double Jeopardy!, but he still trailed the others going into Final Jeopardy! with $12,800 to Meyer’s $33,200 and Raut’s $20,400.
Still, it wasn’t a runaway, so he was absolutely still in play in the last round. In the category “Historic Americans,” the challenge was to name the subject of this clue: “Near Kirkbean on Solway Firth, U.S. Vice Admiral Jerauld Wright presented a memorial plaque honoring this man.”
In a shocking resolution to the round, only one player got the answer — “Who is John Paul Jones?” — correct. While Meyer guessed John Joseph Pershing and Raut guessed David Glasgow Farragut, it was Chan who had the right person and doubled his money to take the lead. In the end, Meyer lost $7,601 with his incorrect answer, leaving him in second place at $25,599, while Raut lost $5,200 and ended in third place and $15,200.
What is a great comeback, Ken Jennings?
Fans on Reddit sure had a lot to say about Chan’s surprise comeback. One commenter predicted that this was part of a trend that might take him all the way to a total victory, writing, “Just think — Ben could have won this whole tournament by now if he had found one of the two DDs in the DJ round yesterday. Don’t wanna jinx him, but so far Ben has been more consistent on FJ than Yogesh and Troy.”
Another agreed that there was a pattern that favors Chan after Friday’s episode, writing, “What I find particularly interesting is that both of Ben’s wins so far have come from third place when Troy had a runaway lead over Ben but not over Yogesh. So Troy has been forced to wager enough to cover Yogesh doubling up both times (but missed), and Yogesh got one right (but wagered 0) and missed the other, while Ben has gotten both FJs right.”
Elsewhere, some people were just happy to see some drama in the Final Jeopardy! round, with one fan adding, “If you’re a FJ wagering strategy fan, this final so far has been absolute catnip.”
Interestingly enough, John Paul Jones, who was dubbed “Father of the American Navy” for his maritime successes, was himself something of a comeback kid after disappearing for a year and a half before returning to make his final home in Virginia.
The Tournament of Champions will thus continue ’til at least Monday, March 18 until one of these three brainiacs manages to get three victories, with Wednesday, March 20 being the very last possible show for that to happen.
Jeopardy!, Weekdays, check your local listings