‘Jeopardy!’: Isaac Hirsch & Adriana Harmeyer Speak Out After Neilesh Vinjamuri’s Stunning TOC Win
Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions ended on Thursday, February 13, after game five when Neilesh Vinjamuri scored his third and final win. The software engineer led with two wins going into the game. Both of his opponents, Adriana Harmeyer, from West Lafayette, Indiana, and Isaac Hirsch from Burbank, California, had one win under their belts.
After Harmeyer’s pronunciation mess up that led her to lose the game, she and Hirsch spoke out about the tournament and Vinjamuri’s win. The game show contestants expressed their opinions on a Reddit discussion thread hours before the show aired on Thursday.
Harmeyer, an archivist, swore that she actually does know Cristin Milioti‘s name after saying it wrong and congratulated her fellow competitors.
“It wasn’t my day, it wasn’t my tournament, but I feel so fortunate to have reached this point and shared the finals stage with two brilliant competitors,” she wrote. “Isaac is so good at this and pulled out some truly impressive daily doubles and finals. Huge congratulations to Neilesh, who showed throughout this tournament why he’s a deserving champion. Both are Jeopardy greats for a reason!”
“This whole tournament was an incredible experience, full of wonderful people.”
“Lastly, I actually do know her name. I’ll spend the rest of my life thinking about why it came out that way,” Harmeyer ended.
Other Reddit users replied to her saying that she was a “strong competitor” and a “superchamp.”
After winning game four, Hirsch admitted that he was “locked in” and ready to go for game five. “And thus ends the 2025 TOC. I remember being very ‘locked in’ last game and thinking ‘okay, we can pull this off’… then we went to lunch and I came back with this clunker of a game,” he wrote.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed with the overall result here, but I am very relieved I did manage to win one game or I would’ve been pretty despondent after.”
Hirsch praised Vinjamuri, a software engineer, for how quick he was on the buzzer and how he’s not afraid to make big wagers.
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“He played a very complete finals and is an extremely deserving winner. I’d also like to shout out Adriana— while you witnessed me visibly losing my mind that I couldn’t ring in, she stayed cool the whole time. She’s unflappable, a great player, and also a very nice person,” Hirsch ended.
Harmeyer’s husband, Neal, chimed in under Hirsch’s post and said that he enjoyed meeting him and his loved ones backstage. He called Hirsch an “absolute winner even beyond Jeopardy!”
Other fans called Hirsch a “rockstar” and said they enjoyed watching him play.
Alison Betts, a writer and Season 40 five-game winner, spoke out on the thread about Vinjamuri’s win and gameplay.
“I want to extend a MASSIVE congratulations to Neilesh. He came into the ToC a quiet, unassuming three-game winner, and came out a lion, having shown an impeccable combination of trivia brilliance, wagering chutzpah, and sheer determination to always find a way to win. On top of that he is a lovely, kind, and gracious person,” she wrote.
Betts also praised Vinjamuri’s buzzer play and said she didn’t think she would win against him in ToC if she played. She said that Isaac is “lovely and funny” and a “scary good trivia player.” As for Harmeyer, Betts said she has a “warmth and kindness that radiates throughout the room.”
Vinjamuri will move on to the 2025 Jeopardy! Masters Tournament. Jeopardy! fans don’t have to watch too long to watch their favorite show as Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament will begin on Monday, February 17 with 27 familiar faces.
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Comments are closed on this story.
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Great knowledge but sorry Argos is not Argus. Wrong in meaning as well as spelling (and Jeopardy) are irrelevant. Wrong is wrong. Ken Jennings knew better, but rules support those who are not right. Trebeck and Art Fleming would have ruled wrong, as it was wrong, but pop knowledge ovdrall shows the dumbing of America.
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I thought Adriana got hosed. The judge's decision seemed to knock her for a loop and derailed her victory charge
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Agree. I couldn't understand a lot of Neilesh's answers. He mumbled but got them right. So unfair.
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I agree, listening a few times she and Jennings said it the same way. I would like to point out that researching Argus and Argos were not the same. Jennings saying the spelling was the same was wrong. If they are going to play favorites they will lose their audience.
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Interesting that Adrianna got disqualified for mispronouncing a word…..Issac has bee saying hunerd for hundred the whole contest. That doesn’t seem right when Jeopardy is seen by many people and children and is obviously NOT the correct pronunciation of the word HUNDRED!!!!
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When the mispronunciation is so subtle that the host repeats the name exactly the same way and says that's correct, it should stand. This cost Adrianna the game. Shameful ruling!
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I was hoping Isaac would win, great personality. Neilesh seemed like a jerk, not even shaking the other contestants hands after the game, all about himself..a real zero.
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Neilesh seems autistic. Weird to say someone seems like a jerk just because they're a bit awkward.
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Exactly. How cruel some of these commenters are. 🙁
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Neilesh is clearly a brilliant trivia player and brave better, but primarily won as he had the best buzzer skills. Felt sorry for the other two.
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Is the show ever going back to just regular Jeopardy?! Part of the viewing fun is meeting new contestants & seeing how that will do & watching for a new mega Jeopardy contestant. Like James Holzhauer. The endless tournament match are beginning to feel like reruns! Regardless, Jeopardy is my & my family's favorite game show!!
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I hate that neilesh weirdo he sucks. Zero personality.
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Weird thing to say about someone you've never met.
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How mean. I think he came across, sweet and shy, and has a beautiful, expressive and kind face.
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