[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the January 29 episode of Jeopardy!]
Two Day by day Doubles and the winner’s fast buzzer abilities precipitated one Jeopardy! Event of Champions participant main grief within the third recreation of the quarterfinals on January 29 (the third recreation of the 2025 ToC general). The participant admitted that they “received wrecked” by the winner’s runaway victory on the Jeopardy! Reddit web page.
Recreation 3’s lineup was Neilesh Vinjamuri, a three-game champion from Lionville, Pennsylvania; Weckiai Rannila, a three-game champion from Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Greg Jolin, a five-game champion from Raymond, New Hampshire. Whereas Jolin walked into this recreation with extra profession wins than his rivals, Vinjamuri got here with a historical past for fast buzzer work.
Neither Jolin nor Rannila might sustain with Vinjamuri’s buzzer pace on this quarterfinals recreation. He answered 33 clues accurately and gave just one incorrect reply. Weckiai had eight appropriate solutions and two incorrect, and Jolin had 13 appropriate solutions and 5 incorrect. Vinjamuri added 1,000 to his main rating of 4,400 after discovering the Day by day Double within the first spherical, however Jolin had main losses on each of the Day by day Doubles in spherical two.
He misplaced 3,800 on a real Day by day Double, after which misplaced 2,000 extra on one other true DD. The scores heading into Last Jeopardy have been Vinjamuri with 28,200, Rannila with 4,600, and Jolin with 800, making it a runaway win for Vinjamuri. All three gamers answered accurately within the closing spherical. Vinjamuri wagered zero and superior to the semifinals with a closing rating of 28,200. Rannila ended with 7,599, and Jolin ended with 1,031.
“Lol I received wrecked,” Jolin commented on the Jeopardy! Reddit dialogue board for the episode. “Extra cogent ideas after I get to look at later right now.” Followers replied with phrases of help.
“Typically it’s laborious to get that mojo again, particularly towards somebody who received over 30 clues appropriate (and solely a single neg, as well). You’re nonetheless a heckuva champ!” one reply reads.
One other reply famous Vinjamuri’s buzzer historical past. “Neilesh was extremely good on the buzzer in his preliminary run and extremely good on the buzzer on this recreation,” they wrote. “It’s spectacular simply how a lot you DID get in, particularly on that fought backside row content material.”
One viewer stated that Vinjamuri’s sturdy efficiency is an early standout for the match. “I feel that is the primary shock results of the ToC. Neilesh got here to play,” they stated. As one person replied, “I imply it was a shock however I imagine Neilesh has the best appropriate response share of anybody within the area, so I knew he might positively pull it off, however I didn’t assume it might be a runaway.”
“He received fairly a number of backside row will get in his authentic run as effectively,” the viewer stated again. “Appears like his largest weak point in his authentic run was really his FJ get price (just one out of 4 appropriate), but when he retains this up, he could also be near-impossible to cease.”
What do you consider Vinjamuri’s efficiency? Is he the one to beat? Tell us within the feedback part.
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