Jeopardy 2025 Tournament of Champions Recap, Part 2
The Semifinals Or How Did The Three Superchampions Do?
Before the recap of this Tournament of Champions continues, a refresher on a previous one.
In the leadup to the 2022 Tournament of Champions the new format allowed for the three players who were already ranked among the greatest game show players of all time to receive automatic byes into the semi-finals. I wasn’t about to argue with that. Having spent Season 38 utterly astounded by the work of Matt Amodio, Amy Schneider and Mattea Roach — who in their original runs had already won a combined 101 games and just under 3.5 million dollars — it would have been asking a little too much for them to just play in the quarterfinals like peons, even for a traditionalist like myself. What I wondered about was whether the other six semi-finalists — with the benefit of one win under their belts — would have a slight edge over the three seeded players. I wasn’t convinced the exhibition match would make a much of a difference.
The results were a mixed bag. Amy Schneider romped to a runaway victory in her semi-final match. Matt Amodio spent most of his in a tight-fought game before losing to Sam Buttrey in his semi-final. And Mattea Roach was basically humiliated by Andrew He in his runaway win.
Now with all due respect to Adriana Harmeyer, Isaac Hirsch and Drew Basile while they are the best players of Season 40 and impressive Jeopardy champions, I doubt any of them would compare themselves to those three. But the basic principle going into the semi-finals that began Tuesday was the same. And if anything it was more pertinent then how it played out a little more than two and a half years ago. There’s quite a bit of separation between an Andrew He, who won five games, and Mattea Roach’s 23. There’s a lot less difference between Drew Basile’s seven wins and Amy Hummel’s five. An extra game could mean just enough of an edge to put all of these players over the top against these three very good players. And as we all saw last year sometimes on a level playing field the super-champions can be defeated by underdogs, as Cris Panullo found out very quickly.
With that in mind I watched the semifinals with bated breath. And here is what happened.
Game 1
Adriana Harmeyer vs. Ryan Manton vs. Will Wallace
Ryan got off to a quick start in the Jeopardy round when he found the Daily Double on the fourth clue of the game in ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. He risked the $1000 he had:
“On American Gods, Ian McShane was Odin, also known as Mr. this guy.” He knew it was Wednesday (I’d forgotten that was Odin’s namesake) and doubled his score. The rest of the round was a back and forth between Ryan and Adriana and Ryan held his lead at the end: $5200 to Adriana’s $4400. Will spent much of the Jeopardy round in the red and only got out on the final clue to put him at $200.
Double Jeopardy was more of the same but then Adriana responded correctly on the $2000 clue in MOVIE & SONG TITLE. “An ethereal rom-com with Reese Witherspoon & a Top 40 hit by The Cure.” Somehow she knew both: Just Like Heaven.
She then found the Daily Double on the next clue in SCIENTISTS. She wagered $4000: “A strength of mind almost divine’, says some of the Latin inscription on this 17th century genius’ grave at Westminster Abbey. She took a long time before she said: “Who is Isaac Newton?” and put her in the lead which she would hold for the rest of the round.
Will got to the other Daily Double and at the time had just $1000. With little choice he bet the $2000 he could: “A Nicki Minaj hit that samples Sir Mix-A-Lot & a J. Lo movie set in the jungle.” He pondered and then guessed: “What is Baby Got Back?” That was the right song but the wrong lyric. I knew the film was Anaconda. Will dropped to -$1000.
Adriana maintained her lead for the rest of the round finishing with an impressive $22,000. It was not enough to lock it up as Ryan was at $12,000. Will managed to get out of the red again on the final clue with $200.
The Final Jeopardy category was COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD. “About 80 miles from Vladivostok, its 11-mile land border with Russia is the shortest of that country’s 14 neighbors. I guessed Finland and I wasn’t even in the right part of Russia as you’ll see.
Will guessed: “What is Bhutan?” That was wrong. He lost everything. Ryan’s response was revealed next. He wrote down: “What is North Korea?” That was correct. He wagered $10,001 which put him in the lead with $22,001.
It was all on Adriana. Her response was: “What is North Korea?” She wagered $3000 which gave her $25,000 and put her in the finals with a well-earned victory.
Game 2
Isaac Hirsch vs Mark Fitzpatrick vs. Amy Hummel
Isaac got off to a fast start in the Jeopardy round building an early lead with $3200. Then he found the Daily Double in ELEMENTAL NAMES. He bet everything:
“According to a study published in 2016, this venomous pit viper was responsible for 39 percent of snake bites on U.S. kids.” Isaac struggled before guessing: “What is an iron cobra?” I couldn’t come up with a copperhead either. To his credit he rebounded and at the end of the round he was back in the lead with $5000 to Amy’s $4200 and Mark’s $1200
Mark got to the first Daily Double in Double Jeopardy early in AROUND THE WORLD. He had $4400 and chose to bet it all. “The Genghis Khan Statue Complex is found about 35 miles west of this city of 1.5 million.” He figured out it was Ulan Bator and went into the lead for the first time.
For the next several clues he and Isaac went back and forth and Isaac managed to get to the other Daily Double in MOVIES AFTER YOU PRESS PLAY. He was in the lead with $15,000 and he bet $5000:
“The Paramount Pictures mountain fades into a Peruvian peak.” Again he struggled before guessing: “What is Six Days of the Condor?” He was thinking of Three Days of the Condor and he’d still have been wrong: it was actually Raiders of the Lost Ark. He dropped back into second place. At the end of Double Jeopardy Mark held the lead with $18,400, Isaac was next with $13,600, Amy was very much alive with $5600.
The Final Jeopardy category was SCIENTISTS’ NAMES. “The first man to observe bacteria & protozoa had a name containing the Dutch word for this much bigger creature.” Now I knew this clue referred to Van Leeuwenhoek, the inventor of the microscope. But I had no idea what kind of creature it was. I guessed: “What is a wolf?”
Amy’s response was: “What is a goose?” That was incorrect. She lost everything but a dollar.
Next was Isaac. He wrote down: “What is a lion?” That was the correct answer. As Ken told is Leeuwen means ‘lion’ in Dutch.” Isaac bet $4000. That put him at $17,600. He was gambling on Mark being wrong.
It came down to Mark. He was thinking of the right man, but his response was: “What is Leviathan?” He wagered $8801, dropping him to $9599 and enabled Isaac to come from behind to move on to the finals.
Game 3
Drew Basile vs. Drew Goins vs Neilesh Vinjamuri
Note: For the purposes of the show, the producers decided to eliminate confusion by calling the ‘two Drews’ (as they will be known for eternity) by their last names. So I will refer to them as Basile and Goins.
The game started with all three players struggling to get out of the gate. When Basile found the Daily Double in THE WESTERN HEMPISHERE he was the only player on the positive side with $800. He wagered $1000:
“The name of this territory means ‘our land’ in an Inuit language.” Basile struggled before guessing: “What is Yukon?” It was Nunavut. He dropped to -$200 and everyone was in the red. It didn’t last that long: Goins and Neilesh got out of the hole by the first break and by the end of the Jeopardy round all three players were: Goins led with $4800, Neilesh was next with $2000, Basile trailed with $800.
Neilesh went into the lead early in Double Jeopardy with four consecutive correct responses. Goins managed to get the first Daily Double in NEWISH WORDS AND PHRASES. Trailing with $3600, he bet everything:
“This online activity of anxiously poring over the sad state of affairs was in full swing in 2024.” He knew it was doomscrolling (don’t we all) and went up to $7200.
He then found the other Daily Double in YOU NEED A SPECIALIST and once again he bet everything. And it was here that Drew Goins’s incredible, remarkable run came to an end:
“An epileptologist will know how to treat tonic-clonic seizures, the bad kind also known by this French name.” Goins struggled before guessing: “What is Guillain Barre?” It was actually grand mal and he dropped to zero.
It wasn’t quite over for Goins; this was another tough game for everybody. These clues were difficult and everybody struggled. Basile had 14 correct responses but gave six incorrect ones, Goins gave 17 correct responses but five incorrect ones and Neilesh managed to give 13 correct responses but 2 incorrect ones. So by the end of Double Jeopardy the scores were not particularly high: Neilesh led with $8800, Basile was next with $6800, Goins was alive with $4400.
The Final Jeopardy category was ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY. The clue was a killer — for me at least. “Wadi al-Malekat in Arabic, this site near a similar and better known location was the burial place of Nefertari and others.” All three players had an idea of what the clue referred to; I didn’t. I guessed: “What is Thebes?”
Goins’s response was revealed first: “What is the Valley of the Kings?” That was incorrect. He lost just $400, leaving him with $4000.
Next came Basile. He wrote down: “What is the Valley of the Queens?” That was the correct response. (Egyptologists will know the Valley of the Kings is where King Tut’s tomb was unearthed.) Basile bet $2002 putting him at $8802 and into the lead.
It came down to Neilesh. He also had written down Valley of the Queens. He wagered $4801. That put him at $13,601 and made him a more than deserving finalist. Two Drews were not enough to beat him. (I know, I know.)
It was an incredible run for Drew Goins, who won both the Second Chance Tournament and first runner up in the Wild Card Tournament. He managed an impressive $85,000 and will now be the mark for all future Second Chance players.
As for the Tournament of Champions for the first time in the post Alex Trebek era: the two winningest players by either the metric of games won or money won will be competing in the finals. Adriana Harmeyer will not get her rematch against Drew Basile, who ended her 15 game streak to start a seven game streak of her own but Isaac Hirsch will be formidable enough. As for Neilesh, he managed one of two runaway victories in the Tournament of Champions so far and he’s already managed to unseat a far better player in his semi-final match. That said, Neilesh’s triumph over Greg Jolin and Weckiai Rannila aren’t in the same category as Andrew He’s wins in the 2022 Tournament of Champions and it wasn’t exactly a picnic in the semi-finals.
Tomorrow the best of seven finals begin with $250,000 and a spot in the 2025 Jeopardy Masters waiting. Keep watching this spot for the recap and the winners. It’s a great group this time around.