Canada's Mattea Roach extends Jeopardy! win streak to 17 games
Holds longest winning streak by a Canadian contestant
Canada's Mattea Roach extended her winning streak on Jeopardy! to 17 games on Wednesday.
Roach, a tutor who lives in Toronto, has now won a total of $396,182 US.
She got the first question of the game, ran the table on a botany-related set of questions and bet big on a Daily Double in the second round that netted her $8,000.
But she did miss a question — as did her opponents Ben Hsia of Fremont, Calif., and Christina Clark of De Pere, Wis. — about Canadian musician Neil Young.
While Roach led for most of the game, she ended up winning by just $1 after her nearest competitor went into Final Jeopardy with exactly half of her total. Both got the final question right.
At the start of the episode, host Ken Jennings noted the iconic game show had only seen seven winning streaks of 16 games prior to Roach's ongoing run.
Jennings had started the show with a brief list of things associated with the number 16, as a prelude to discussing just how impressive Roach's run has been, even before her 17th victory.
If Roach makes it to 19 wins, she would be in a tie with Jeopardy! champs David Madden and Jason Zuffranieri.
She already has the show's longest winning streak for a Canadian.
Stats listed on the Jeopardy! website indicate Roach is also among the top 10 winners when it comes to cash winnings during regular season play.
With files from The Canadian Press