Cash awards amounting to Rs 5.50 lakh were distributed to nine sportspersons at a function last evening held at the Bombay Gymkhana.

These included the Asian Games men's hockey gold medal winning team members forward Sabu Varkey and mid-fielderSandeep Somesh who received Rs one lakh each.

Varkey, shockingly dropped by the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) along with Somesh and four other Bangkok heroes for the nine-Test series against Pakistan scheduled in February, was awarded Rs 25,000 as well for being a member of the Indian team at the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia along with goalkeeper Jude Menezes.

Other award winners were:

Commonwealth Games: George Thomas (badminton men's team silver) -- Rs 75,000; PVV Lakshmi, Neelima Chowdhary and ArchanaDeodhar (badminton women's team bronze) -- Rs 50,000 each.

Asian Games: Devendra Joshi (billiards doubles bronze) -- Rs 50,000; Urvashi S Sodhi (women's golf participation) -- Rs 25,000.