Bindra to receive Commonwealth Games baton

22 July 2009. Beijing Olympic Gold medallist Abhinav Bindra will be the first Indian baton bearer of the 2010 Commonwealth Games and will receive it from Queen Elizabeth II in London on 29 October 2009.

"It is indeed a great honour and pride for India," Bindra said.

Abhinav Bindra

Indian President Pratibha Patil will also be present in the ceremony as she has accepted the invitation of Queen of England.

The Queen's Baton Relay, which has been a curtain raiser for Commonwealth games since 1958, will kick off from London and it will cover 70 nations and territories with fleeting through 28 states, seven Union Territories and two island territories of India.

The Queen's Baton Relay is a curtain raiser to every Commonwealth Games since 1958. The baton relay will take off from London on October 29 and will cover 70 nations.

On arrival at the opening ceremony in Delhi, the baton would have traveled over 190,000 km over 340 days and this will make the Baton Relay one of the longest in the history of the Commonwealth Games.

The relay will conclude with the final baton-bearer entering the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the Games on October 3,2010. indianshooting.com