Narayan is a Junior at James Clemens High School, Madison, Alabama.
Indian American teenager Sharath Narayan, a junior at James Clemens High School, in Madison, Alabama, has won the $100,000 Jeopardy! Teen Tournament.
Narayan won the two-day finals, held in Washington, DC, which concluded on Tuesday, beating the two other finalists, Alex Fischthal and Michael Borecki, who came second and third, respectively, clinching $50,000 and $25,000, respectively, for their effort.
The finals was taped earlier this year, but was broadcast Monday and today.
Hosted by long-time host Alex Trebek, “Jeopardy!” attracts 23 million viewers each week and is in its 33rd season.
Earlier, before the finals, speaking to WAAY 31, Narayan said the support has been incredible. A watch party was held for him by friends and classmates, on Monday.
“It’s great to have all the community support, it feels great to know that everyone is rallying behind you and I really appreciate everyone coming out,” said Narayan. “Being on jeopardy has been one of my lifelong dreams. We’ve been watching it since I was little, I love trivia,” said Narayan.
Narayan was chosen out of nearly 300 teenagers to compete in Jeopardy’s Teen Tournament, after an audition.
“It was kind of hard to fathom that I made it to the audition, when they sent the email for the audition and then to the show, which is even bigger,” said Narayan.
Narayan said the biggest challenge was to get to the buzzer first. The answers are all in a question-based format, to clues which are given on-screen and voiced by Trebek too.
“Definitely intimidated by the buzzer, getting in on the buzzer quickly is difficult,” said Narayan. “I like to travel, maybe we would go to Europe, Germany, Switzerland,” he added, prior to his winning the tournament, of his winnings.
Second place winner Fischthal is a North Woodmere resident and student at George W. Hewlett High School, in Long Island, New York.
Third place winner, Borecki, from Darien, Connecticut, was recently named a National Merit Semifinalist and last year won the National History Bee Connecticut State Championship JV level for the second year. As an eighth-grader, he won the state’s geography bee.
“The Teen Tournament is my favorite yearly event due to the energy and enthusiasm of our young contestants,” said Trebek, in a statement. “Taping this year’s shows in D.C. only added to that feeling of excitement and also created a sense of occasion that was felt by everyone who participated in it.”