Memphis manager Laura Faddah returns on January 28 in Jeopardy! 2026 Tournament of Champions quarterfinal

A Memphis champion advances from regular-play success to the show’s postseason bracket

Laura Faddah, a manager from Memphis, is scheduled to compete on the Wednesday, January 28, 2026 episode of Jeopardy!’s Tournament of Champions, appearing in a quarterfinal match against Steven Olson of Princeton, Illinois, and TJ Fisher of San Francisco, California. The Tournament of Champions is Jeopardy!’s postseason event that brings together top-performing champions from regular play and additional qualifying pathways.

Faddah earned her place in the tournament after an eight-game winning streak in regular play. Her run ended when she finished second in a subsequent game, but her eight victories met the show’s qualification threshold for the Tournament of Champions.

How the 2026 Tournament of Champions is structured

The 2026 Tournament of Champions began on January 19, 2026. The bracket includes quarterfinals leading into semifinals and a finals format in which the first player to secure three wins becomes champion. As the tournament progressed through its opening games, the show’s published tournament tracker listed a set of contestants who were placed directly into the semifinal round rather than starting in the quarterfinals.

• Scott Riccardi was seeded into the semifinals.
• Laura Faddah was seeded into the semifinals.
• Paolo Pasco was seeded into the semifinals.

That seeding created a “WildCard Watch” dynamic in which other non-winners could still advance based on money totals, while several competitors filled semifinal slots by winning earlier games.

Faddah’s January 28 matchup and what it means

On January 28, Faddah’s quarterfinal pairing places her against two players who, in the same tournament cycle, had already appeared in earlier games. Olson is identified as a band director from Princeton, Illinois, and Fisher as a marketing specialist from San Francisco, California. The match listing for January 28 shows all three names together in the quarterfinals portion of the tracker, with Faddah identified as representing Memphis.

The Tournament of Champions is designed to test repeat winners against a deeper field, where even high-performing players can be eliminated in a single game.

Why Memphis viewers are paying attention

For Memphis, Faddah’s return places a local contestant on one of the program’s highest-visibility stages. Regular-play streaks can elevate contestants into the Tournament of Champions, and Faddah’s eight consecutive wins made her one of the notable performers of the season. Her January 28 appearance arrives as the tournament continues through late January, with semifinalist positions being finalized and the event moving toward its multi-game championship round.