Abhinav Bindra will soon meet the queen in London

Despite his exclusion from a sponsorship deal, Abhinav Bindra has reason to smile since he will soon meet the queen in London

Abhinav Bindra will soon meet the queen in London

Despite his exclusion from a sponsorship deal, Abhinav Bindra has reason to smile since he will soon meet the queen in London

The National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) have excluded Abhinav Bindra from the list of 15 national shooters, who will be sponsored by Sahara India Pariwar for their 2012 Olympic preparations.

Bindra was unavailable for comment but it is unlikely that India's Olympic gold medal-winning shooter's mind will be occupied with the NRAI's decision, considering the special honour in store for him in the next few days.

First baton-bearer
According to Abhinav's father Apjit, his son will become the first Indian sportsperson to receive the Commonwealth Games (CWG) baton at the start of the Queen's Baton Relay (QBR)u00a0 in London. The Commonwealth Games will be held in India next year October (3-14).

"India President Pratibha Patil will receive the baton from Queen Elizabeth at the Buckingham Palace and Abhinav will then be the first baton-bearer. This is a proud moment for not only me and my family but the whole country," Bindra Sr said from Chandigarh yesterday.

CWG 2010 is Abhinav's sole aim at the moment and his father felt no one should doubt his commitment.

Total dedication
"He wants to live up to the expectations of a billion-plus Indians and has already started his preparations for the Games. In fact, he even left a few days before needed for his trip to London, to stopover at Germany to practice (with coach Gaby Buhlmann)," the senior Bindra added.

The ace shooter is nervous at the prospect of meeting the Queen. "Before leaving home a few days ago, Abhinav told me he's quite nervous about meeting the Queen and rubbing shoulders with 71 heads of state (from the CWG Associations). He hoped the responsibility wouldn't weigh him down. He wants top continue doing well for India," said Bindra Sr.

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