Juveria Zaheer used to observe “Jeopardy!” so much along with her household when she was a bit woman. She adopted Ken Jennings’ historic successful streak in 2004 and considers the late Alex Trebek as some of the well-known Canadians on the market. Now, she’s competing within the Event of Champions.
Hailing from Whitby, Ont., the 41-year-old psychiatrist and affiliate professor’s journey on the trivia present truly began over a yr in the past. In that first episode, which aired in Might 2023, she competed in opposition to Hannah Wilson, who defeated Zaheer throughout her preliminary look of her eight-game successful streak.
“She is just unbelievable, and the first half of the game, I was like, ‘Oh no, this is terrible.’ I felt my heart beating in my ears. I felt like I wanted to sink through the floor – nothing was going right,” Zaheer informed Ontario Chronicle Toronto.
“I think that because everything happened so fast, I sort of focused on learning as much as I could, learning as much content, but didn’t think as much about like, ‘What does this mean to me? And how is this going to feel? And how do I stay calm?’”
However, as soon as that sport was over, Zaheer didn’t lose hope – she began to organize for the off-chance that she would get referred to as again to the present.
“There was a part of me that thought like, ‘You know, Juveria, you played pretty well. Is there a chance they might ask you back?’” Zaheer stated, including she tried studying as a lot as she may within the interim.
“It’s such a once in a lifetime, or twice in a lifetime, opportunity that I thought, ‘If there’s a small chance I’m going to get called back for a Second Chance [Tournament], I’m going to be ready, and I’m gonna give it my all.’”
The mom of two stated she learn consistently, all the time pushing herself to find out about new issues. And, it paid off. Final Halloween, she stated she was referred to as again to the present – one thing she was “extremely” enthusiastic about and now felt much less scared for.
“When I got out there, I remember having this feeling come over me of like, you can win or lose your bearings but you’re doing the best you can. You’re being brave and you are having fun,” Zaheer stated.
“My daughters were there, my two girls, and my husband were there, and it was the first time that they had ever seen me play and so I just remember thinking, ‘Be brave for your girls and show them what you can do.’”
Zaheer received, incomes a two-day last whole of US$70,800 (the very best rating of all Second Probability victors). Plus, in her first sport of the finals, Zaheer set three single-game highs for the season, together with 32 right responses and a Day by day Double whole of US$20,000.
After weeks of successful, Zaheer secured her place within the upcoming Event of Champions – which begins broadcasting this Friday – after successful the quiz sport’s Champions Wild Card event and the US$100,000 prize.
Whitby’s Juveria Zaheer on the Jeopardy! stage. (Provided)
“Everything happened really fast. My first episode aired on Dec. 20, and so before that, I had never won a game of “Jeopardy!”” Zaheer stated. “I feel like I’ve been in Culver City more than I’ve been in Whitby, in a sense, in the last few months but it’s been such an adventure, for sure.”
Whereas Zaheer has been excited by her second likelihood on the present, she stated crucial factor is her illustration on the display screen and the instance she units for her two daughters, Hana and Zara.
“I think it was important to me to be able to represent for women and women of colour, who tend not to show up on the “Jeopardy!” levels usually, and to signify for mothers too,” Zaheer stated.
“I tell [my] daughters that anything worth doing has a chance of failure. I lost on “Jeopardy!,” my brother was a tremendous participant however misplaced on “Survivor,” [my] daughters have seen two relations lose in entrance of tens of millions of individuals, however what we hope it’s taught them is that something value doing can be value failing at, and all you are able to do is be courageous, be proud, and check out your finest.”
The Event of Champions begins airing Feb. 23 with Zaheer set to look within the Feb. 29 episode.
