Marharyta Aljakandrauna Fjafilawa is a Belarusian professional pool player from Minsk, Belarus. Fjafilawa has won a total of 26 Belarusian national women's championships, with an additional three national championships in mixed competitions against both men and women. She is the first player from Belarus to win a medal at the European Pool Championships, a bronze medal in the nine-ball competition in 2015. She also reached the final of the European Girls Championship in 2014, losing 3–6 to Diana Khodjaeva. Fjafilawa is a regular player on the Euro Tour and the Baltic Pool League. In 2017, she became the number one ranked player on the Euro Tour for the first time after winning two Tour events, the Dutch Open and the Portugal Open. In 2019, she reached three finals, bringing her career total to six finals on the Euro Tour. Fjafilawa alongside Yana Shut were the first Belarusian billiard players to receive state funding.
Career
Junior career (2011–2014)
Fjafilawa saw her first success in 2011 when she played in her first national eight-ball competition where she reached the semi-finals. The following year, she won her first national championshiptitle in the junior women's championships in nine-ball and first participated in the European Girls Championships ten-ball competition, reaching the quarter-finals. In October, she won the final of the Belarusian eight-ball championship against Yana Shut. The following season, she succeeded in winning two competitions at the national women's championships. In the eight-ball final, she defeated Anastasiya Tumilovich 4–1 and in nine-ball, she won 5–0 against Natalya Kozlovsky. In early 2013, victories followed in the Belarusian under-18 championship and the nine-ball cup competition. Later that season she first competed in the nine-ball Baltic Pool League held in Tartu and reached the final where she won 7–4 against Agnė Jarušauskaitė. Shortly after, she also won the ten-ball national championship. In the 2013 European Girls Championships, Fjafilawa twice reached the quarter-finals. In September, Fjafilawa defeated Simona Milišauskaitė to win her second Baltic Pool League championship in Riga, Latvia. In March 2014, Fjafilawa became the Belarusian under-18 champion in the disciplines of both eight-ball and nine-ball. Fjafilawa played in the 2014 European Pool Championship, entering the main women's nine-ball competition for the first time, however, she lost to defending champion Jasmin Ouschan 8–7. She also entered the junior events, reaching the semi-final of the eight-ball competition, and reached the final of the nine-ball competition, losing 3–6 to Dianna Khodjaeva. Fjafilawa competed for the junior national team at both the 2014 and 2015 European Girls Championships, where the team reached the semi-finals in 2014.
Adult career (2015–present)
In April 2015, Fjafilawa won the first Belarusian medal at the European Championships. After defeating Louise Furberg and Kristina Tkach, she reached the semi-final of straight pool, losing to Ouschan 36–75 and earning a bronze medal. In 2016, Fjafilawa won her third Baltic Pool League championship, defeating Ukrainian player Daryna Sirantschuk 6–2 in her hometown of Minsk. Also in nine-ball, Fjafilawa won her first medal on the Euro Tour at the 2016 North Cyprus Open, reaching the final where she lost 3–7 to Kristina Tkach. The following season, she won her first event on the Tour, defeating Oliwia Czupryńska 7–2 in the final of the 2017 Dutch Open. Later that season, she won her second event at the 2017 Braga Open, defeating Katarzyna Wesołowska 7–4 in the final. After the Braga Open, she finished the season ranked as the number one player on Tour. The following two seasons saw Fjafilawa reach the final of both the 2018 and 2019 Austria Open events. She would play Jasmin Ouschan in the final of both events, but lost both, losing 2–7 and 1–7 respectively. In addition to the Austria Open, she also reached the final of both the 2019 Klagenfurt Open and 2019 Treviso Open, losing to Tkach on both occasions. Fjafilawa won a further series of national championships, taking her total to 29 titles in 2019.
Fjafilawa was born on 31 May 1997. In 2015, Fjafilawa and Yana Shut became the first billiard players in Belarus to receive state funding. Before playing pool, Fjafilawa was a professional dancer.
