Jeopardy! Weekly Game Recap (6/12-6/16): Suresh Krishnan Qualifies for the Tournament of Champions
Additionally, three new champions emerged last week.
Suresh for Success
On Monday, June 12th, Suresh Krishnan became the 12th “official” qualifier for the upcoming 2023 Tournament of Champions. In what seemed like an unlikely streak following the near-loss against 3-time champion Jared Watson last week, a rough game with 23 triple stumpers in his second game, and another last-minute come-from-behind victory in his third game, Suresh won his fourth game in a runaway to officially become the 12th eligible player for the Tournament of Champions. With $53,999 in his bank after 4 days, a fifth win was definitely going to be a challenge for him.
And that, it was. Facing off against opponents Michael Vallely of Somerville, MA and Marilyn Singer of Brooklyn, NY, Suresh had a lot riding on him to win this game. The first round was strong for him, playing neck-and-neck with Michael and also catching the first Daily Double. With low confidence, he bet $5 on a clue in Narrator of the Novel: “This novel: Stranded astronaut Mark Watney.” The correct answer was The Martian; Suresh answered with Gravity. Suresh finished the round with $5,395, compared to $5,600 for Michael and $0 for Marilyn.
In Double Jeopardy!, Suresh got off to a strong start and it looked like he was on his way to smooth sailing for a 5th win, nearly running the Like a Statue category and also finding the first Daily Double on the $2,000 clue, of which he bet the same amount: “John Diefenbaker & Lester Pearson are among the notables commemorated with statues on this Ottawa hill.” Suresh correctly responded with Parliament Hill, taking his score up to $10,195 compared to $6,800 for Michael.
In a triumphant and pretty emotional display, Michael found the other Daily Double in The War of 1812, stating before making a True Daily Double wager of $8,400: “You know, I had three failed cancer treatments; I didn't think I'd be here, so I'm just going to bet it all.” The clue was as follows: “In 1814 U.S. forces under Gen. Jacob Brown invaded Canada by crossing this river between Lake Erie & Lake Ontario.” Michael correctly responded with the Niagra, taking his score up to $16,800 vs. $10,195 for Suresh.
For the rest of the round, Michael continued to have command for the most part, ending the round with $26,400, with Suresh in second with $14,195 and Marilyn hanging on with $4,400. Suresh was just barely able to circumvent a runaway from Michael, but made up for it by being the only player correct in the Final Jeopardy! clue about Women in Mythology: “The name of this woman, the product of an incestuous union, means "against birth."“ Suresh answered with Antigone, adding $14,000 to finish with $28,195. Michael went with Uncle Steve, a joke response that will probably be cited for years to come, dropping to $24,400.
With yet another incredible come-from-behind win of $28,195, Suresh now had a 5-day total of $82,194 and an official stamp into the next Tournament of Champions. While Michael didn’t end up with the win, it’s hard to imagine him being left out of the upcoming Second Chance Competition, which is set to air in the fall.
Suresh’s 6th game wasn’t super dominant for him either, but he was the best player overall against Joe Seibert from San Diego, CA and Laura Blyler Scanland from Newport News, VA. Collecting $5,000 in the first round, Joe garnered $3,200 with Laura sailing behind at $200. Joe had the benefit of finding the Daily Double in Flowers and correctly answering the clue about the mayflower and its relation to the Pilgrims, doubling up from $1,600 to $3,200.
The second round wasn’t as fulfilling for Suresh’s opponents, as they both found each Daily Double and wound up missing, losing on $2,000 bets. It wasn’t a very high-scoring round, though Suresh managed to coast his way to his second lead before Final Jeopardy! with $11,800 in his bank compared to $7,200 for Joe and $600 for Laura. Suresh was already guaranteed a spot for the 2023 Tournament of Champions, but a 6th win would make him the 68th player to surpass 5 wins since the lifting of the 5-day limit.
In Final Jeopardy!, the clue was about Actors and the clue was: “He starred in the 2 films whose soundtracks were the top 2 bestselling albums of 1978.” The correct response was John Travolta, answered correctly by Laura and Suresh. Joe went with Harrison Ford, dropping $6,000 to finish $1 ahead of Laura. Suresh added $2,601 to finish with $14,401 for a 6-day total of $96,595.
Three New Champions
After 6 hard-fought victories, Suresh’s run came to an end on Wednesday as he struggled against Holly Hassel from Fargo, ND and Neilay Amin from Harrisburg, PA. Holly had the advantage after finding and correctly responding to the first Daily Double of the first round, finishing with $5,200 compared to $2,000 for Suresh. Neilay went on a tear in the second round though, correctly answering a True Daily Double wager of $4,800. However, he missed a Daily Double worth $4,000, knocking him down a notch but not enough to take his lead away going into Final Jeopardy! with $12,400 vs. $12,000 for Holly and $5,200 for Suresh.
All three players answered incorrectly, with Holly betting enough to stay in second place before Neilay dropped $11,601 to finish in third place. Holly was the new champion with $10,500 and Suresh took home an extra $2,000 for second place for a total of $98,595. Holly returned the next day, but proceeded to lose against Suzanne Goldlust from Reston, VA, who ran away with the game after responding correctly to all three Daily Doubles, as well as Final Jeopardy! to win with $18,700. Holly finished in second place with $16,000 to take home an extra $2,000 while Kiran MacCormick from Burlington, VT finished with $4,800.
The week ended with a tough battle from Suzanne against Ben Goldstein from Dexter, MI and Erica Raphael from Saint Paul, MN. Although Ben managed to get roughly half of the correct answers compared to his opponents, a miss on a $4,000 Daily Double in the second round put him behind Erica before Final Jeopardy! with $8,600, compared to $11,000 for Erica and $3,000 for Suzanne. Again, all three players were incorrect in Final Jeopardy!, with Ben having the least amount of net damage losing $2,402 for a score of $6,198, compared to Erica finishing with $4,799 and Suzanne with $3,000. In a close finish, Ben was the final winner of the week, and he’ll be back to face two new challengers this Monday.
