---
title: "Fefilova-Styer wins Shootout, Showdown goes late at Grand Finals"
url: https://sportshorts.net/story/fefilova-styer-wins-shootout-showdown-goes-late-at-grand-finals
published: 2026-11-03T09:22:49Z
updated: 2026-11-03T09:22:49Z
summary: "Margaret Fefilova-Styer took the Women's Shootout and the League Area Showdown played down to a champion as the Ultimate Pool USA Grand Finals got through Monday in Cherokee."
author: "SportShorts Desk"
categories: ["Pool"]
tags: ["8-Ball", "Billiards", "Grand Finals", "Pool", "Ultimate Pool USA"]
lang: en
---

# Fefilova-Styer wins Shootout, Showdown goes late at Grand Finals

*The first two titles of Grand Finals week were decided on the TV Arena table in Cherokee on Monday — one in the afternoon, one in the last match of the night.*

CHEROKEE, N.C. — The first two titles of the Ultimate Pool USA Grand Finals were decided on the TV Arena table at Harrah's Cherokee on Monday, with Margaret Fefilova-Styer winning the National Women's Shootout and the League Area Showdown title settled in the last match of the night.

Fefilova-Styer beat Ashley Benoit 7-2 in the mid-afternoon final to bank the $3,000 top prize, giving up just six racks across three matches in the one-day, eight-player invitational played under the league's 30-minute match clock and 30-second shot clock. Benoit collected $1,000 as runner-up.

The evening session belonged to the League Area Showdown, which cut 32 league areas to an eight-team knockout on the streamed table with a $6,000 first prize on the line. Jacksonville beat Indianapolis Metro 5-2 and East Tennessee edged Salt Lake City 4-2 in the opening quarter-finals; East Texas against Central Ohio and Northeast Indiana against Atlanta North completed the last-eight card. The championship match closed the night, the title decided in the late window.

Around the hall, the week's money events got moving. The $282,000 8-Ball Teams championship — billed by the league as carrying the biggest first prize in pool league history at $112,000 — began its week-long programme in the morning, and the 128-player National 8-Ball singles logged 64 bracket matches on day one of its multi-stage format.

Tuesday brings the National Shootout — the invitational that plays out entirely on the streamed TV table across two days — plus the opening of the National Mixed Pairs and National Pairs and the start of the 10-Ball Teams championship.

**Why it matters:** Monday set the rhythm for the biggest week of the American league pool season — showcase invitationals on the TV table at night while the prize-money events grind through the day. With the first champions crowned, attention turns to the Shootout and to an 8-Ball Teams event that will dominate the rest of the week.

*Scores via the official DigitalPool bracket and published reports. The Showdown's late final was still awaiting wider confirmation at press time.*