The Queen’s Baton Relay (QBR) of the XXI Commonwealth Games, which are being held in Gold Coast, Australia, from April 4 to 15, arrived here in Lahore the last week. No ceremony could be held to celebrate the arrival of the baton, perhaps due to the mourning period of Muharram.

The QBR started its world tour from Buckingham Palace in London, the residence of Queen Elizabeth II, in April this year. In a one-year journey, after crossing 52 participating countries, the QBR will conclude its trip in Gold Coast in April next year.

The QBR landed in Lahore from Larnaca, Cyprus. Pakistan is the first Asian country where it landed. From here, it will go to India on Oct 3.

Earlier, the Pakistan Olympic Association had planned a welcome ceremony at a local hotel on Friday, soon after the arrival of the QBR, but it had to postpone it due to the late arrival of the flight. After Yaum-i-Ashur, the QBR will be exhibited at a special function being held at Hazoori Bagh on Monday. Country’s top players who have won medals in the Commonwealth Games and in Olympics have been invited to the function, where Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is likely to be the chief guest. His arrival has not yet been confirmed.

Design and material of the QBR reflect the life and culture of Queensland. The surfboard shaped baton is made up of Spinifex paper, the Macadamia wood, which is from a local tree found in the Gold Coast, and the recycled plastic recovered from the sea. Technology has been incorporated into the baton function. The baton has its own App that will be used to control settings for the energy efficient LED colour illumination and battery status. GPS technology on board will allow the baton to be tracked as it travels around the Commonwealth countries. A four-member team of the organisers of the Commonwealth Games is carrying the baton.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has set Oct 26 to hold elections for the Lahore City Regional Cricket Association (LRCA). Elections are held after every three years for president and secretary posts. Incumbent president Khawaja Nadeem will face Shahraiz Abdullah Rokhari for the top post. Nadeem has also fielded Wasim Anwar from his group to contest elections against Habibullah Hasan Shah for the secretary post. Overall, nine representatives, three each of North, West and East zones, affiliated with the LRCA, will cast their votes to elect president and secretary. Nadeem is contesting elections for the third consecutive time whereas Shahraiz’s father Aamir Hayat Rokhari had run the LRCA for many years in the past. He himself is contesting elections for the first time. Nadeem belongs to the West Zone while Shahraiz is from the East Zone. So, the three votes of North Zone will be vital. Nadeem enjoys the support of North Zone for his secretary candidate Wasim’s brother, Masood Anwar, is the president of the decisive North Zone. As president of North Zone, Masood will nominate three representative of the zone to cast their vote.

After imparting training to the Pakistan baseball team, US coach John Goulding left the city this last week with the team for Taiwan to participate in the Asian baseball championships. The Pakistan Federation Baseball kept his stay in the city secret due to security purpose. Goulding, who has also worked with the national team for almost two months last year in Lahore to prepare it for the World Cup qualifying round held in New York, feels happy for being in Pakistan. Though the US government had issued travel alerts to its national not to traveling Pakistan, Goulding gave a statement to his government that he will be responsible for his security in Pakistan. Goulding says he always experienced respect and love from the Pakistanis. Talking to Dawn, Goulding said though his US friends had advised him not to go to Pakistan, he stuck to the programme, because the last year visit was memorable for him. Players and the public of Pakistan are very humble and he loves all of them.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2017