ChineseMaragaret Fefilova Styer used an injury to her advantage in winning the Women's World 10-Ball Championship in Rome and realizing a lifelong dream.



By Keith Paradise
Photos by Matt Porinsky

In sports, a player suffering an injury can result in defeat, but in the case of Margaret Fefilova Styer, an ailment many have been a blessing in disguise.

Like many of the current generation of professional pool players, Fefilova Styer is a fitness nut, constantly working out in the gym and exercising. But she injured herself a few months back lifting weights for strength training, which caused some complications with her game. Recently, she went out for a run and sprained her ankle, which is not an ideal injury for someone whose job requires them to be on their feet for hours on end.

Yet, with Predator moving this year's Banca del Funcio WPA Women's World 10-Ball Championship to picturesque Rome, Italy last month, Fefilova Styer almost felt like the ankle gave her a bit of a hidden advantage. As the other 63 ladies in the field played toured the city in the sweltering Italy heat, Fefilova Styer preserved her energy, opting instead to remain indoors and practice. Someone noted she was the only player in the practice room working on her game.

“Well, I hope it is going to pay off,” she said.

It did.

The 29-year-old survived a sudden death shootout in the second round against Ana Gradisnik, gutted out a five-set win over Chia Hua Chen in the quarterfinals, then endured a two-set comeback by recently crowned World 8-Ball Champion Chezka Centeno in the final to secure the first world title of her career. The milestone victory is her second win of season, having won the Women's Professional Billiards Association's Raxx Mezz Olhausen CPBA Invitational earlier in the year. But the world title victory puts an exclamation point on a three-year stretch of consistency for the Belarus native in which she has competed in 30 events and reached the final four 14 times. Only twice over that space did she finish outside of the top 10.



“This is absolutely surreal,” said Fefilova Styer. “I can't believe that I was able to achieve this and fulfill my childhood dream.”

Fefilova Styer first appeared on the scene 15 years ago when the then-teenager reached the semifinals of the Belarus national 8-ball competition and won the country's junior women's championship in 9-ball the following year. Also in 2012, Fefilova Styer earned the national championship in 8-ball — the first of 17 national championships that she would win over the next five years. She became the first player from her country to medal at the European Championships in 2015 when she defeated a young Kristina Tkach and earned a bronze medal for straight pool.

She won the first Euro Tour event of her career two years later, winning the Dutch Open then following up that performance with a victory in the Braga Open later in the year. Five years after, her world would be completely uprooted due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, moving to the United States, eventually marrying men's professional Tyler Styer and settling into a new life in his home state of Wisconsin, where she has a place to work on her game and a built-in support system. Two years after moving, she won the WPBA's Colorado Classic and has remained a top performer in women's events.

But despite the rock-solid consistency, doubt was starting to creep into her mind about whether she would ever achieve her dream of a world title. She finished ninth at the Women's World 9-Ball Championship in back-to-back years and reached the semifinals of the Women's World 8-Ball and 10-Ball Championships last year, only to fall on the final day. The uncertainty was a topic of conversation between her and her husband, a fellow professional who once won the Kremlin Cup and is a regular on America's Mosconi Cup squad. Fefilova insisted she was at peace with the idea of not winning a world championship, recognizing how many great players there are worldwide and just how cut-throat her competition is on a tournament-by-tournament basis. Instead of winning a world title, she focused on simply being a better version of herself than she was before.

“I just wanted to improve and see where it would take me,” she said. “And this time I am just very happy that it took me to the top.”

Centeno drew a bead on a second world title in three weeks, falling just short.


Centeno drew a bead on a second world title in three weeks, falling just short.

Getting to the top was definitely an effort. After an opening round victory over Christine Steinlage, 4-2, 4-0, Fefilova Styer matched up with old friend Gradisnik, winning the first set, 4-3, but dropping the second frame, 4-1, to tie the match. Gradisnik had a chance to secure the deciding set 4-2 but missed midway through the rack, allowing Fefilova Styer to clear the table and tie the score 3-3, forcing a sudden-death shootout, which she won, 2-1.

“Ana is difficult to play,” she said. “She is a really good player and it is different to play a friend mentally. I don't have that killer instinct.”

Her path didn't get any easier in the next round when she faced two-time world champion Chieh-Yu Chou, where she again won the first set, 4-1, only to watch Chou battle back and claim the second, 4-1. She persevered in the deciding frame, securing the victory with a 4-2 decision which landed her in the single-elimination round-of-16. With matches extended to best of five sets, Fefilova Styer opened play in the second stage with a four-set victory over Austria's Jasmin Ouschan, 4-3, 4-3, 3-4, 4-2, then played a marathon set against Chia Hua “Amber” Chen in the quarterfinals, losing the first set 4-0, taking the lead with back-to-back sets, 4-2, 4-3, then watching as Chen tied the match with a 4-2 win in the fourth set to send the match to a deciding set, which Fefilova survived, 4-2.

“I honestly give all of the credit to my ankle,” she said. “My sprained ankle helped me to stay a little more disciplined and not overdo it and preserve some energy and focus on the matches because there were some really long matches. I give all of the credit to my fitness. Running and working out has definitely been paying off. I can't imagine surviving long days like this if you are not physically fit.”

Waiting for her in the semifinals was Chou again, who had fought her way into the semifinals from the one-loss side. Chou played Fefilova Styer much tougher the second time around, but was again defeated in straight sets, 4-2, 4-3, 4-3.

Centeno, meanwhile, took a more scenic yet more dominating route to the finals.

After winning her opening match against Xiaofang Fu, 4-1, 0-4, 4-1, she dropped her next match to fellow Filipina Rubilen Amit, 3-4, 4-2, 2-4. But Centeno went on a roll on the one-loss side, defeating American Kennedy Meyman, 4-0, 4-0, breezing past Silviana Lu, 4-0, 4-2, and besting Pia Filler, 4-2, 4-1, to qualify for the round-of-16. She opened play in the knockout stage by eliminating young American upstart Savannah Easton, 4-1, 2-4, 4-0, 4-1, then survived Japan's Chihiro Kawahara, 4-3, 4-1, 3-4, 4-0, to reach the semifinals where she met Women's World 9-Ball Champion Seo Seoa. Centeno advanced in straight sets, 4-0, 4-3, 4-3, to reach the final.


Fefilova Styer maintained laser focus, “out-strategizing” her opponents.

“During the early stages, I really took my time to adjust my game and strategy, especially since it was a different discipline for me,” said Centeno. “I started feeling more confident once I made it to the final 16.”

Centeno, who is still mourning the death of her mother three months ago, broke and ran to open the first set in the final, and had a chance to increase her lead in the following game but missed the 5 ball in the side pocket. Fefilova Styer used the opening to tie the score, then took her first lead of the match when the Filipina scratched into the corner pocket in the third game. She pushed her advantage to two games after Centeno missed the 7 ball in the fourth game, then won the fifth game to clinch the set, 4-1.

The second set was more of the same, with Centeno shooting quickly and making unforced errors just as fast. Fefilova Styer got on the scoreboard first with a successful safety exchange, then increased her lead in the next rack when the Filipina missed a jump shot. She took control of the set in the third rack when Centeno misplayed a bank shot, and cruised to a 4-0 win and a two-set lead.

“I think that my mistakes stemmed from being overconfident in the finals match,” said Centeno. “The grit that I had throughout the whole tournament suddenly disappeared. I felt too relaxed, and I let my guard down and couldn't bring out the intensity when I needed it the most.”

She was far from finished though. After Fefilova Styer scratched in the first game of the third set, then missed the 5 ball in the second game, Centeno was off to the races, building a quick 2-0 lead. Fefilova Styer pulled to within a game, but the Filipina won back-to-back safety exchanges to secure a 4-1 win and trim the deficit to 2-1.

“I knew that she wasn't going to give up easily,” Fefilova Styer said. “This format is all about the momentum. I definitely had the momentum in the first two sets but know it can shift. I was definitely feeling it. I was very nervous in the third set because it's very hard to not let those thoughts creep into your mind and you're just four games away from a world championship.”

The match tightened up in the fourth frame, when a Fefilova Styer foul allowed Centeno to climb onto the board first. She padded her lead with a break-and-run, then capitalized on missed shots by Fefilova Styer in back-to-back racks, pitching a 4-0 shutout to tie the score at two sets each.

With the world title finale reduced to a single set, Fefilova Styer focused on her breathing and stuck with her strategy of picking her spots on offense and concentrating on where she wanted to land the cue ball. If a clear shot wasn't available, she was content to engage in a safety exchange, knowing that some opponents will get frustrated with continued safe shots, eventually opting for a risky gamble that fails and leaves an open table.


Chou dropped both of her matches against Fefilova Styer, finishing third.

“I feel like one of the strongest parts of my game was my strategy,” she said. “I definitely out-strategized my opponents.”

When Centeno opened the fifth set with a scratch on the break and left an open table, Fefilova Styer capitalized and took an early lead. She tacked on another win when the Filipina missed a bank shot and secured at least a sudden death shootout when she used one of those safety battles to gain a 3-0. Centeno appeared to be in position to win the fourth game but miscued when attempting a shot. That was all Fefilova Styer needed, as she cleared the table for the victory, raised her cue in the air in triumph, then slumped into her chair, buried her face in her hands and wept.

She had long pondered jumping on the table like many of the men players do, but in the moment decided that just isn't her style.

The runner-up finish for Centeno was the culmination of an emotional but rewarding journey that saw her win one world title and finish second in another in the span of three weeks. As a reward, Centeno took the opportunity to do some of the sightseeing of her own — including a trip to Vatican City and another to Santa Maria Maggiore where the devout Roman Catholic had rosaries blessed by the Pope to bring back to her family in the Philippines.

“Of course, I missed the opportunity to have my cues blessed too,” she said.

For Fefilova Styer, having the elusive world title now on her resume has given her the feeling that her career is just beginning. She celebrated by spending a few weeks in Belarus with her family before returning to the U.S. in late August, where she will get back to the practice table with her husband, working on the shots she missed and the shots she finds challenging.

“The work always continues and that is a beautiful thing because no matter what tournament you win there is always so much more room for improvement,” she said.


With help from Centeno (left) and Seao (right) Fefilova Styer celebrated.

Top