Featured J!Buzz

Juveria Zaheer has officially been crowned the winner of Group One in the Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Season 39 competition.

Juveria came out on top in Friday’s final and took home the $100,000 grand prize with a two-day final score of $20,000. Andy Tirell won $50,000 with a second place two-day final score of $14,800; while Michael Menkhus was awarded $25,000 for his third place finish and two-day final score of $2,799.

The deciding game came down to a triple stumper in Final Jeopardy! And while none of the players responded correctly to the clue about army technology, Juveria was still able to secure the win thanks to her $0 wager and performance in Game One of the finals.

“I have had the most wonderful journey,” Juveria said, discussing her win. “And the players I met today are just extraordinary.” 

Juveria restarted her Jeopardy! journey last December when she returned to the Alex Trebek Stage and won the Second Chance Season 39 competition along with Xanni Brown, Matt Harvey, and Long Nguyen. Now with her latest victory, the psychiatrist and mother of two from Whitby, Ontario, Canada is heading to the Tournament of Champions, which begins Friday, February 23.

“It sounds fake,” Juveria said of advancing to the Tournament of Champions. “It sounds like I can’t imagine it. What a gift!” 

As a player in the upcoming tournament, Juveria could face off against Hannah Wilson, the eight-game champion who defeated her during her initial appearance on the show in Season 39.

“To get to meet Hannah again…it’s just like a second chance in so many different ways,” Juveria said. “After I lost I went and sat with my brother near Hannah’s wife [in the audience].” 

“She was so supportive,” Juveria recalled. “She was like, ‘You gave Hannah such a great game. I haven’t seen her look nervous before on stage.’” 

While Juveria said she is looking forward to competing in the Tournament of Champions and meeting fellow Canadian champions like Ray Lalonde, one of the best parts of her experience so far has been the reaction she has gotten from her loved ones about her success on the show.

“As a woman, especially a woman of color, as a mom, as someone who is maybe not a typical Jeopardy! champion, I had so many people say to me ‘My daughters watched you, and my sons watched you,” Juveria said. “I’m so surprised every time… but it’s a pretty good feeling.”