The 2026 Spanish Armed Forces Absolute Men's Championship – XX Santi Ollé Memorial, has concluded at the Llanes Municipal Field, Asturias, with the victory of the Madrid team, which dashed the expectations of the Principality of Asturias team, who were playing at home.
The match began evenly in the first two foursomes games. The Asturians took the lead with a 1-up victory for Javier Neira and Álvaro R. Huidobro over Sergio Jiménez and Álvaro Pastor, but the Madrid team responded with a 1-up win for Jorge Martín and Pedro García against Pau Sánchez and Ignacio Adaro.
Thus, everything depended on the individual matches, which started well for the home team with Ignacio Adaro's victory over Jorge Hao by 5/4. However, the Madrid team leveled the score with Álvaro Pastor's victory against Javier Neira by 3/1 and continued their comeback with the points won by Sergio Jiménez and Pedro García, who defeated Pelayo Fernández and Álvaro R. Huidobro by 1 up and 2/1, leaving the match between Jorge Martín and Pau Sánchez in a tie and a final score of 4.5-2.5.
In the other matches, Andalusia took third place after defeating Catalonia 4-3; Galicia finished fifth after beating the Basque Country (3.5-1.5) and Aragon took seventh place against the Valencian Community (3-2).
Cantabria, winner in the final of the Second Flight
The so-called Second Flight, which grouped the teams that did not qualify among the top eight in the preliminary phase, has been won by the Cantabria team after defeating the Canary Islands team 3-2 in the final.
Catalonia – Principality of Asturias and Madrid – Andalusia, semifinals of the tournament
The 2026 Spanish Armed Forces Absolute Men's Championship closed the first day of head-to-head matches in which there were no surprises, as the teams that had been best ranked in the Medal Play phase continued.
Catalonia, the team that finished in first place in that qualifying phase, beat Galicia by a score of 4.5-2.5; the Principality of Asturias defeated Aragon by 5-2; Andalusia achieved the most resounding result by beating the Basque Country by 5.5-1.5; and Madrid got rid of the Valencian Community team by 5-2.
As for the other nine teams that did not advance to the fight for the title and that are located in the so-called Second Flight, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Canarias and La Rioja prevailed over Navarra, Castilla La Mancha, Extremadura and Murcia respectively with the ninth to 17th places at stake.
Madrid and the Principality of Asturias, finalists of the tournament
The 2026 Spanish Armed Forces Absolute Men's Championship formed its star match with the teams from Madrid and the Principality of Asturias.
The Asturian team defeated Catalonia by a resounding score of 6.5-0.5. The team from the Principality of Asturias took an early lead by winning both foursomes matches and completed their victory by taking four out of five games.
As for Madrid, they had a tougher time defeating Andalusia. The Madrid team started in the best possible way, winning both of their foursomes matches, but the Andalusians refused to give up and turned the tables with three victories, leaving the final result to be decided in the match between Madrid's Sergio Jiménez and Andalusia's Yago Horno, two of the tournament's standout players. In the end, Sergio Jiménez emerged victorious with a score of 3-2, bringing the final result to 4-3.
Andalusia continues to dominate the awards list
This tournament, under its name of Inter-regional Under 25 First Division, Santi Ollé Memorial, has been historically dominated by Andalusia, winner in seventeen editions (1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021 and 2025), followed by Catalonia, also outstanding with eleven victories (1990, 1994, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2024).
FINAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Madrid
2. Principality of Asturias
3. Andalusia
4. Catalonia
5. Galicia
6. Basque Country
7. Aragon
8. Valencian Community
9. Cantabria
10. Canary Islands
11. La Rioja
12. Castile and León
