Ben Chan runs away with his quarterfinal game on 'Jeopardy!' Tournament of Champions, advances to semifinals
In what host Ken Jennings has called “one of the most dramatic Tournaments of Champions in ‘Jeopardy!’ history,” Ben Chan did what he does best: Stayed calm and carried on.
The St. Norbert College assistant professor of philosophy and nine-time Green Bay champ bucked the trend of highly ranked champs getting knocked out in upset wins and handily won his quarterfinal on Tuesday to advance to the semifinals.
Chan ran away with the game, finishing with $29,800 in winnings. His closest competitor, Justin Bolsen, a college student from Canton, Georgia, who won the first-time High School School Reunion Tournament, had $10,000 heading into Final Jeopardy! Emmett Stanton, a freelance writer from Baltimore, was at -$2,000 and therefore didn't get a shot at Final Jeopardy!
Chan was out front the entire night, answering clues ranging from Hilary Duff to a mosquito species to several involving jazz musicians shown in an iconic 1958 photo. He pulled away by correctly answering the first two Daily Doubles.
Neither he or Bolsen correctly answered the Final Jeopardy! clue: "Isolated in 1945 during uranium fission research, it was named for an ancient deity to suggest humans gaining a new power." Chan originally wrote down the correct answer, which was promethium, but crossed it out at the last second and wrote thorium. He wagered $0.
The ninth and final quarterfinal game of the tournament will air Wednesday. From there, the nine quarterfinal winners from the field of 27 contestants will each compete in one of three semifinal rounds to be broadcast Thursday, Friday and Monday. Who is playing what night has not yet been announced.
During the contestant chat, Jennings asked Chan, who was wearing a Zippin Pippin roller coaster pin from Bay Beach Amusement Park on his lapel, what he did with his $252,600 winnings from his original run. Chan said he and his wife were still reusing the plastic takeout containers from a local Hmong restaurant for their 2021 wedding reception meal. He said they have since been able to upgrade to glass containers for their lunches.
“Lifestyles of the rich and famous,” Jennings said. “I love that for you.”
Chan watched the episode with a packed house at Zambaldi Beer in Allouez for a watch party and the brewery's Think and Drink Trivia.
If he wins his semifinal game, Chan will be one of three contestants in the finals, where the first person to win three games earns the ToC title and $250,000.
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Ben Chan advances to semifinals on 'Jeopardy!' Tournament of Champions
