Margarita Fefilova has credited a shift in her mental game to her ongoing exploits in Rome, Italy, where she will compete in the prestigious Women’s World 10-Ball Championship final on Thursday.
Fefilova will contest her maiden world championship final in any discipline, taking to the stage in a mouthwatering final against defending champion Chezka Centeno, who could create history in becoming the first player to win the title three times.
The 29-year-old denied Chen Chia-Hua in a marathon shootout in the quarter-finals, before defeating 2022 champion Chou Chieh-Yu in straight sets in the semi-finals to become the first Belarusian player to reach a world championship final.
“I’m pretty tired right now,” Fefilova told the Predator Pro Billiard Series. “I just had a four and a half hour match in the quarter-finals and this match was probably around three hours – I’m feeling absolutely mentally drained but really happy. It’s going to be my first final tomorrow, so I’m really excited.”
Fefilova, who was beaten by another Filipina in Rubilen Amit in last year’s semi-finals, will be hoping for a contrasting outcome this time around, having evolved as a player since that defeat in Indonesia.
“I feel like I’ve been working a lot on my mental game over the last year, year and a half and I can definitely see that it’s paying off,” the women’s world number ten added.
“I used to be this kind of player who, if it wasn’t going my way, I would give up easily, but you’ve just got to keep on grinding even if you’re down two sets. Having this mentality of never giving up I think is paying off in the long run.”
Fefilova’s newly-developed mental fortitude was utilised in her quarter-final against Chen, where she prevailed in a shootout, having battled back from 2-1 down in sets in a marathon match.
“It’s just knowing when to turn it on and turn it off, so when I’m in the chair I’m trying to relax a little bit and when I’m at the table I’m trying to concentrate 110 percent on every single shot. It’s just knowing when to flip the switch.
“It’s a lot of hours on the table prior to this – that definitely makes it easier because when you know you have put in the work, you have confidence. Even when you’re down two sets, you have confidence that you can use opponents’ mistakes against them.”
