2016 ‘Teen Jeopardy!’ Champ Wins ABC’s ‘The Chase’ Six Years Later

By Alex Vena

Where to Stream:

The Chase

Powered by Reelgood

More On:

game shows

Some people were just destined to be winners. Sharath Narayan, former Teen Jeopardy! champion, was destined to be a winner not just once, but twice, as he took home another game show victory on ABC‘s The Chase last night (July 6).

Hosted by The View‘s co-moderator Sara Haines, the show boasts the tagline “a new game show where average Joes take on trivia pros.” The show welcomes three contestants each episode and features one “chaser,” a trivia professional who sets out to best the new contestants.

Last night’s chaser was none other than Brad Rutter, former Jeopardy! star who has won over $5.1 million in game show earnings. The show’s other chasers include fellow Jeopardy! icons James Holzhauer and Ken Jennings, who is currently Alex Trebek‘s successor as Jeopardy! co-host.

Narayan’s legendary 2016 victory on Teen Jeopardy! was certainly one to remember, as he ended up with just $1 more than his fellow competitor Alec Fischthal. However, his win didn’t just occur out of a miraculous moment of chance. Narayan told JBuzz! that he came in with a game plan after conducting research on Jeopardy! history.

“Two of the main things I made sure to prepare for before the tournament were wagering strategy and buzzer technique, because I knew that these two were vital to winning as many games as possible,” he shared back in 2016.

The trivia titan has more than proved himself outside of the game show scene since then. At the time of the taping of last night’s episode, Narayan was wrapping up his senior year at Vanderbilt University, where he studied on a full-ride scholarship. In pursuit of a degree in biology, he had his eyes set on earning a PhD and ultimately becoming a biology professor. He has since fulfilled that goal as well, and is now a PhD student at Northwestern University.

Alongside Barbara and Jose, Narayan outsmarted Rutter. After Narayan’s introduction on last night’s episode, Rutter taunted him, sarcastically feigning fear and saying, “Teen Tournament! Ooh!”

However, according to Yahoo! Entertainment, Narayan’s youth proved to be his secret weapon, as he bested Rutter on modern pop culture questions surrounding topics such as The Bachelorette, Venmo and Silk Sonic.

Days before the episode aired, Narayan promoted the show on his Twitter, thanking his sister for helping him choose the pink sweater he donned during his ultimate victory.

Fans have since congratulated him in the comments, writing, “You were great on the show tonight and thanks to your sister for the sweater choice !” and “I literally haven’t moved from my couch watching you play! Such a great contestant.”

The Chase airs Thursday nights at 9/8 p.m. c on ABC. You can catch new episodes the day after they air live on Hulu.