Bindra to receive Games baton from the Queen

In the presence of Indian President Pratibha Patil, Queen Elizabeth II will hand over the baton to Olympic gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra in London on October 29, marking the beginning of the Queen's Baton Relay for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

In the presence of Indian President Pratibha Patil, Queen Elizabeth II will hand over the baton to Olympic gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra in London on October 29, marking the beginning of the Queen's Baton Relay for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

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Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi said in London on Thursday night that the Queen would hand over the baton to Bindra after a grand opening ceremony at the Buckingham Palace.

The start of the baton relay will coincide with a grand cultural show in Trafalgar Square in London. An estimated two billion people will witness the opening of the baton relay on television globally.

The Queen's Baton Relay, which has been the curtain-raiser for the Commonwealth Games since 1958, will go round the UK for a week and cover 1.75 lakh km in 70 countries and territories, before reaching the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium where the Commonwealth Games commences.

The baton will reach India through the Wagah Border from Pakistan and en route it will be taken by boat in St Helenas in Africa for four days. Before reaching Delhi the baton relay would go round India.