Spanish player Alejandro Asenjo won the main event of the 2026 Malta Summer Championship, achieving the same record as his friend Cosme Gomez (2024 champion). He defeated Marko Cosic in heads-up play after a four-way deal.
When your friend makes a deep run in a tournament or wins a peripheral event, it's already a big deal. But for two friends to win the same Main Event feels like an even rarer feat.
However, what is rare is not impossible. Just two years after Cosme Gomez won the Fall 2024 tournament, Alejandro Asenjo finally succeeded in winning the Main Event of the 2026 Battle of Malta Summer tournament held at Casino Malta.
With 2,667 entries (creating a total prize pool of €1,186,962), Asenjo emerged victorious after a four-way deal to split the prize. He initially secured €94,520, then repeatedly doubled up his chips to ultimately claim the trophy.
He defeated Marko Cosic (€90,850) in a very short heads-up match, while Stavros Passias finished third and took home the top prize of €114,150. Georgios Papakonstantinou, who entered the final table as the chip leader, settled for fourth place, earning €100,800.
Final table results of the 2026 Battle of Malta Summer Main Event
| Ranking | player | country | bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alejandro Asenjo | Spain | €94,520* |
| 2 | Marko Cosic | Serbia | €90,850* |
| 3 | Stavros Passias | Greece | €114,150* |
| 4 | Georgios Papakonstantinou | Greece | €100,800* |
| 5 | Angelo Censabella | Italy | €43,900 |
| 6 | Danilo Scevola | Italy | €35,600 |
| 7 | Gianluca Donini | Italy | €27,050 |
| 8 | Fredrick Bratein | Norway | €19,350 |
Indicates the four-party agreement on prize distribution
Champion's reaction
As his friends surrounded him with champagne, Asenjo could hardly contain his joy. "I feel fantastic. This is the first time in my life I've won a main event," he said with a smile, while also recalling his previous experience winning a side event at the 2024 WPO Bratislava.
This Spanish professional player from Madrid came to Malta with his friend Cosme Gomez (2024 Malta Tour Autumn Main Event champion). While achieving that feat seemed impossible, Asenjo ultimately succeeded, earning the biggest prize of his career in the process. "Malta has always been a great place for us," he joked when other players asked for a selfie with him.
Asenjo advanced through the final starting group, 1g, and crossed the million-chip mark on Day 2. Although his chip stack remained almost unchanged on Day 3, he still made it to the final table on Day 4 as the chip leader.
Besides skill, Lady Luck was also on his side. After reaching a four-way deal to split the prize, the players agreed to go all-in in the blinds for the trophy. "What will be," he told his opponents, satisfied with having already secured €94,520. He initially lost his first four-way all-in, putting himself short-stacked, but then won all the other pre-flop battles, ultimately claiming the 2026 Malta title.
This victory could change his future plans. "I sold my WSOP package earlier this week, so I wasn't planning on going to Las Vegas. But winning this tournament...maybe I will!" he added. Let's wait and see if the "Knight" will have a gold bracelet on his wrist in a few weeks.
Final table results
The pace of the final table wasn't particularly fast at the start, with only one chip doubling recorded before the first break, completed by Danilo Scevola.
After the restart, Fredrick Bratein found himself with less than a big blind left in the big blind position and was forced to go all-in. He went 5-2 against Q-2 and failed to improve his hand, becoming the first player eliminated from the final table, finishing in 8th place for €19,350.
Moments later, Gianluca Donini defeated the eventual champion in a coin toss, doubling his chips, but quickly became embroiled in another all-in showdown. This time, both he and Asenjo were called by Cosic's King. Asenjo hit an Ace to survive, while Donini, holding K-10, was eliminated in 7th place with €27,050.
Scevola then doubled up his chips a second time with a lucky river card, but he was still short-stacked. A few hands later, he went all-in again, but his 5 pairs were no match for Passias' A-10 (who hit top pair on the flop), and he was eliminated.
With five players remaining, Angelo Censabella raised four times with KJ of different suits, but folded after Passias went all-in with Q after five raises. This hand cost him half his chips. Ten minutes later, he went all-in again with KJ. Against Cosic's pocket fours, he flopped trips and seemed poised to double up, but Cosic hit a two-card live hand on the turn, eliminating the Italian player.
With four players remaining, they agreed to split the prize money and continue competing for the trophy. However, after Asenjo successfully doubled up his chips with Papakonstantinou, all four players agreed to go all-in pre-flop for the next few hands to determine the champion.
In the first showdown, Cosic hit two pair 9-7, gaining a huge lead, while Papakonstantinou was eliminated in fourth place with €100,800. Asenjo then managed to triple his stack twice, eliminating Passias in third place (€114,150).
The heads-up match then lasted only two hands. Asenjo first doubled up his chips to tie his opponent, and then won the Main Event title in the next hand.
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