Ontario ‘Jeopardy Queen’ back in action for Jeopardy Masters tournament

Whitby’s ‘Jeopardy Queen’ is back under the bright lights tonight in the quarter-finals of the Jeopardy Masters tournament.

Juveria Zaheer, a psychiatrist and researcher with CAMH and the University of Toronto, won a wildcard tournament in early 2024 to book her ticket to the Tournament of Champions, where the road to Jeopardy glory ended in the quarter-finals on the last day of February.

This year the personable Zaheer is back for Jeopardy! Masters, an American game show hosted by Ken Jennings that features recent notable champions competing against each other in a ‘Champions League-style’ format.

Zaheer got through the knock-out stage this month to qualify for the quarters and will match up Tuesday night in the first of two matches to determine four qualifiers for the semi-finals.

Tonight’s contestants:

Juveria Zaheer: The first contestant to win both the Second Chance competition and Champions Wildcard to advance to the Tournament of Champions. A 2025 Jeopardy Invitational tournament co-runner-up, Zaheer is the second Canadian after Mattea Roach to appear on Jeopardy Masters. Total winnings of $191,000.
Matt Amodio: qualified as Jeopardy Invitational winner. Total winnings of $1,879,601.
Isaac Hirsch: A nine-game champion and 2025 Tournament of Champions runner-up. Total winnings of $293,390.

Juveria Zaheer with Ken Jennings

Zaheer has been called a “comeback contest sensation” by Jeopardy executives and a “stone cold trivia assassin” by her fans and had been a sensation since losing her first time on the show to eight-time winner Hannah Wilson.

She returned to the contest with a record-breaking haul in a Second Chance tournament – she earned $52,100 in just one match, the first Canadian to do so – and then won the Wildcard tournament to qualify for the Tournament of Champions.

She saw her run end at last year’s Tournament of Champions with a trick question on Final Jeopardy.

The tournament was won by Vancouver, Washington’s Yogesh Raut, who is also among the top six left in the Jeopardy Masters tournament.