Games baton passed to Glasgow

GLASGOW - The Commonwealth Games baton was officially passed to Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, at a glittering 1.8 million-pound ceremony marking the closure of the Delhi Games, media reports here noted Friday.

Glasgow took centre stage as it prepares to host the event in less than four years after India dazzled for 12 days of competition, The Herald reported.

Glasgow began the final lap of what 2014 organising committee chief executive John Scott described as an “incredible journey” that will end with the opening ceremony July 23, 2014.

The eight-minute handover at the New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium showcased elements of Scotland’s past and present, including a video of Glasgow landmarks and the beauty of rural Scotland.

Councillor Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow Council City, said India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told him that he hoped Glasgow 2014 would be better.

Matheson, who will be bringing the Commonwealth Games Federation flag to Glasgow Friday, said: “To get such a huge vote of confidence from Singh is a great way to mark the official handover of the Games from Delhi to Glasgow.”