DANGER! contestant Weckiai Rannila shared the inspirational meaning of her name on Monday, before losing an always crucial fourth game.
The engineer from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was one win away from the upcoming Tournament of Champions against Matthew Smith and Carrie Klaus.
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Weckiai is the three-day champion with a total of $35,200 and won her most recent match on a stroke of luck after meeting Macarena.
A fourth win would have qualified her for the next Tournament of Champions, and Ken Jennings mentioned that, as well as her name.
He began during the Q&A, “I don’t know what that means. Tell us about your name.”
She responded proudly, “I’m a member of the Comanche tribe, it’s a Comanche name.
“It was my mother’s name, my grandmother’s name and my great-great-grandmother’s name – and it means a woman on horseback looking for something.”
She continued, “And in the story, of course, what she’s looking for is her boyfriend.”
“Oh!” Ken responded in surprise and asked if the name “applies differently” to Jeopardy! – “Are you looking for the Tournament of Champions, for example?”
“I have this in mind,” she concluded, but it wasn’t supposed to be like this.
‘SAD!’
After Danger! round, Weckiai had a whopping $10,000 and an early Daily Double, Matthew $2,800 and Carrie $3,000.
In Double Jeopardy!, Weckiai controlled the game, but despite 28 total correct answers, she was unable to escape.
She lost a $2,000 Daily Double, while Matt got the remaining Daily Double for $4,000 with just two clues left.
Going into Final Jeopardy, Weckiai had $19,600, Matthew had $13,200 and Carrie had $10,600, so it was anyone’s game.
The clue under “HISTORICAL GROUPS” read: “Like their uniform, the flag of this group created in 1506 has red, blue and yellow stripes, the colors of the Medici family.”
NEXT TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
Here’s who qualified for the next Jeopardy! ToC – all women!
Alison Betts – five wins and $121,500
Dr. Amy Hummel – five wins and $100,994
Lisa Ann Walter, winner of Celebrity Jeopardy!
Only Matthew got it right with “Swiss Guard”, doubling to $26,400 and winning from second place.
Fans adopted Weckiai’s sentiment on social media as, despite her “strongest performance”, she lost – and was on the brink of the Tournament of Champions.
“This was a reverse situation for Weckiai in Friday’s game: she did VERY well in the main part of the game, but lost FJ. I’m sad to see her go and hope she does well in the Champions Wildcard,” wrote one Redditor.
Another agreed: “What a difference a day can make between Friday’s game and today’s. Three really strong performances. Although Weckiai lost, she had her strongest performance.
“I wouldn’t be too shocked if she managed to get in [to the ToC]”, they added.
“Weckiai has to be one of the coolest names I’ve ever heard!” a third simply wrote.
A fourth wrote: “I love the Native representation on my favorite game show!”
Matthew will face two new opponents tomorrow night to see if he can turn his upset victory into a streak.
So far, the official qualifiers for the next ToC are five-day champions Alison Betts, Amy Hummel and Lisa Ann Walter from Celebrity Jeopardy.
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DANGER! MASTERS FACE EACH OTHER
Meanwhile, season 2 of Jeopardy! Masters continues tonight on ABC at 8pm ET in primetime, so fans will get 1.5 hours of Jeopardy!
Masters pits the six best-ranked competitors from the last seasons against each other to see who is truly the best.
The candidates are defending champion James Holzhauer, last year’s finalists Matt Amodio and Mattea Roach, producer’s choice Amy Schneider and newcomers Yogesh Raut and Victoria Groce.
Each hour-long episode features two games, and the grand prize is $500,000, along with the Jeopardy! Master’s champion.
Victoria secured her place by winning April’s JIT, which featured legends from past decades.
Yogesh qualified by winning the 2024 Tournament of Champions.
The two newcomers dominated their debut with runaway wins and are at the top of the leaderboard in Game 3 and Game 4.
Fans are eagerly waiting to see if Yogesh and Victoria will continue their winning ways or if James and the returning players will manage to win.
Fear not, show traditionalists, as the Masters will not interfere with normal play and both will air on those nights.
HOW DOES MESTRES WORK?
Masters is an annual spinoff designed to determine the best player in a given year.
The Masters began on May 1st and is scheduled to end with a grand final on May 22nd.
Each Masters episode consists of two half-hour games, and the winner of each receives three points, while the runner-up receives one.
After the elimination of the fifth and sixth placed teams, two semi-final episodes will begin on Friday, May 17th.
After the elimination of the fourth placed team, the final will air on May 22nd.
An episode of two final matches will determine the winner based on the highest combined total.
MASTERS SEASON 2 SCHEDULE
Here is the ABC primetime Masters Season 2 schedule:
Wednesday, May 1st
8pm-9pm – Danger! Masters: (201) (season premiere)
Monday, May 6th
8pm-9pm – Danger! Masters: (202)
Wednesday, May 8
8pm-9pm – Danger! Masters: (203)
Friday, May 10th
20:00-21:01 – Danger! Masters: (204)
Monday, May 13th
8pm-9pm – Danger! Masters: (205)
Wednesday, May 15
8pm-9pm – Danger! Masters: (206)
Friday, May 17th
20:00-21:01 – Danger! Masters: (207)
Monday, May 20th
8pm-9pm – Danger! Masters: (208)
Wednesday, May 22
8pm-9pm – Danger! Masters: (209) (season finale)
WHO WILL WIN?
James is the one to beat, and everyone is trying to see if he can win back-to-back Masters.
But Yogesh and Victoria – professional quizzers who have had winning streaks of just three and one days, respectively – are the trailblazers so far.
Victoria and James are (or were?) co-stars on ABC’s sister show The Chase, a big draw this year.
Another big attraction is the playful rivalry between the two “heels” of the special, Yogesh and James.
They grew up in the same area of Michigan that Yogesh mentioned in the debut of a stoic James.
In fact, Yogesh also once boasted about being “better” than James at high school trivia on stage.
On Reddit, fans are already predicting “Yogesh, James and Victoria in the top three”.
Danger! airs at 7pm ET depending on local affiliates – while Masters will air at 8pm ET on ABC nationwide.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
