English Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday passed the Queen’s baton for the 2010 Commonwealth Games to President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, starting the countdown to the sporting event to be held in New Delhi next year.

The baton was handed over to President Patil at London’s Buckingham Palace in the presence of Union Sports Minister M.S. Gill, Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell and Suresh Kalmadi, chief of the 2010 Games Organising Committee.

Indian Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra began the baton relay amid loud cheers from the crowd, some of whom were seen waving the Indian flag.

Bindra was joined in the run one by one by Indian and international sporting greats. Among them were Kapil Dev, Sania Mirza, Milkha Singh, Monty Panesar, Vijender Singh, Sushil Kumar and Karnam Malleswari.he baton handover was preceded by the national anthems of India and Britain. The baton will go on a journey across the wold, visiting all the 70 Commonwealth nations.

After a journey of 240 days, it will reach the Indian shores and go to all the state capitals and some other cities.

The journey will finally end on 3rd October next year in Delhi, signalling the beginning of the 2010 Games. This will be one of the longest baton relays in the history of the sporting event.The relay ceremony proceedings began with school children, dressed in blue uniforms, singing verses from the Rig Veda. The verses symbolised unity and oneness in the spirit of the Commonwealth. The choir singing was followed by several Indian dance performances.

The baton is a fusion of Indian handicrafts and modern engineering.

“The baton journey is symbolic in many ways but it’s more than just that. It enables so many more people to feel a part of the game,” Fennell said.