A Vancouver-area teacher's game show reign has ended after losing Friday's episode to another Canadian contestant.
Ali Hasan, who works at Surrey's Guildford Park Secondary School, won "Jeopardy!" three days in a row, but was unable to stretch his success to a fourth day.
The computer science teacher headed into Final Jeopardy in third place, but with the right answer, he was able to eke past an Ohio researcher to finish second overall. He lost to Jordan Nussbaum, a lawyer from Thornhill, Ont.
On the episode that aired Friday, Hasan answered questions ranging from sports terminology to the origins of surnames. He also chatted with host and fellow Canuck Alex Trebek about a wedding he attended in Spain, where he'd been asked to give a speech in Spanish.
"I'd been learning a little bit of Spanish and I thought it was pretty good, and I prepared a speech," he said.
As he spoke, he noticed people were taking video and laughing, which he thought was a good sign. Months later, he got the video back.
"Whoever edited the video thought it would be funny if they put little subtitles and just put a bunch of question marks and Chinese characters," he said.
"Fun and games in Madrid," Trebek said as the audience laughed.
In his first three days, Hasan racked up a total of US$67,801 – or about $90,235 in Canadian dollars. He finished Friday with $11,601, but because he didn't win the day, he'll add to his title the $2,000 given to the show's first runners up.
The resident of New Westminster said he'd dreamed of appearing on "Jeopardy!" decades. Originally from Bahrain, Hasan auditioned a short time after getting his Canadian citizenship.
"I've wanted to be on the show for 25 years," he told CTV News Thursday, back in the classroom in Surrey.
One of his students said they'd watched the show on the edge of their seats, and that they had faith he'd go all the way.
With files from CTV Vancouver's Allison Hurst
