Noida (U.P), Mar 15 (IANS): The Elite Pro Basketball Pre-Season got off to a thrilling start here on Wednesday as Delhi Dominators beat Chandigarh Conquerors by 1 point -- with the final score reading 74-73 in favour of Delhi at the NOIDA Indoor Stadium.

The second match featured Mumbai Stars against Pune Pythons which was won easily by Mumbai with a score of 126-79. Gurwinder Singh top scored for Mumbai with 26 points and Kumar N from Pune Pythons finished the game with 22 points. In other matches, Lucknow Swarms piped Hyderabad Hoops 100-90 while Chennai Turbos ramped past Bengaluru Stallions 78-54.

The 16-team Pre-Season started with a brand-new rule called the 'Trump Card', which gives a unique twist to the game. The team can use one Trump Card in a game for two minutes, a coach can select any of his team players as a trump card and whatever he scores in those two minutes adds a double point. This gives an immense advantage to the team.

The Delhi Dominators versus Chandigarh Conquerors match was extremely close and tense with the lead switching both ways. Tanmay Mali from Delhi Dominators top scored with 22 points which helped the team defeat Chandigarh Conquerors by 1 point.

The Girdhari Singh Shekhawat-coached Chandigarh Conquerors were leading by 3 points with 4 minutes remaining on the clock and Delhi Dominators, used the Trump Card and went ahead by 1 -- Tanmya Mali was the crucial factor that changed the course of the match.

In the last quarter, Delhi Dominators, who are coached by Nizhar Ahmed, were down by 3 points, but Tanmay Mali's efforts turned the match. Rawat top scored with 17 points for Chandigarh Conquerors.