Queen’s Baton to hit Lucknow roads on July 9

Passing through six districts of the state,the Queen’s Baton will reach Lucknow on July 9 and receive a grand welcome at Bakshi Ka Talaab on Sitapur Road with a cultural extravaganza by students. From there,it will move to the Asafi Imambara,the Chhota Imambara,CDRI,Hotel Clarks Awadh,Parivartan Chowk and finally the KD Singh Babu Stadium.

The distance to be covered is 4.5 kms and a sportsperson,wearing a t-shirt with the Commonwealth Games logo,will stand at every 90 metres to join the relay.

Those selected by the regional sports officer and the DM include Arjuna Awardee for Athletics Vijay Singh,volleyball players Ranbeer Singh,Ilyas and Ana Singh,hockey players Syed Ali,Ravinder Pal,Mahendra Bora,Dr Ram Prakash SIngh,Rajneesh Mishra,Shaqeel Ahmed,Sujeet Kumar and Razia Zaidi,cricketer Gyanendra Pandey and athletes Babadeen Chaudhary,Vikram Singh,Bhuvan Singh,Gulab Chandra and Radheyshyam Singh.

The evening will see a host of cultural events at the Sant Gadge Ji Maharaj Auditorium at Gomti Nagar. These will include a dance drama based on the life of Lord Buddha,folk dance performances and folk songs by Malini Awasthi. The DM has instructed district authorities to put up hoardings welcoming the relay across the city by July 1.