Martin Atanasov and his Galatasaray successfully started their playoff series for 1st to 4th place in the SMS Group Efeler League, Turkey. In the Istanbul derby against Fenerbahce, coach Umut Çakır's boys decisively defeated their opponents with a clean 3:0 (25:23, 25:14, 25:23) in 102 minutes of play. The top scorer for the winners was Olympic champion Jean Patry with 18 points, followed by Ivan Zaytsev with 10.National player Martin Atanasov finished with 5 points (1 block) and 44% positive reception in the "Bulgarian" derby.

For Fenerbahce, the only player with a double-digit score was another Olympic champion, Earvin Ngapeth, with 10 points.National player Denis Karyagin made episodic appearances in the second and third sets and finished with 2 attack points with 100% success rate.
The next match is on Wednesday, again at Galatasaray's "Burhan Felek Vestel" hall. A victory for Atanasov and company would send them to the final for first place.
Galatasaray finished second in the regular season, while Fenerbahce took third place.