In Denmark, the badminton world championship saw a fistfight Monday between Dutch and Thai athletes. The argument started when Dutch players occupied Thai practice courts and refused to leave. The incident is still being investigated by the organizers.

In China, top golfer Zhang Lienwei clinched the title of the 1999 BAT China PGA National League Chengdu on Sunday. Zhang sealed his win with 69 strokes on the final day.

In England, the cricket World Cup is well under way. Favorites South Africa beat the world champions Sri Lanka, by 89 runs. “Man-of-the-match” was Lance Klusener.

Also in cricket news, India’s star batsman Sachin Tendulkar had to pull out from the game against Zimbabwe and fly home to Bombay following the death of his father Wednesday. He will possibly return for next Wednesday’s game against Sri Lanka.

In Italy, cycling race Giro d’Italia started last weekend. Frenchman Laurent Jalabert from the ONCE team took the overall lead Wednesday, seven seconds in front of Italian Danilo di Luca. Last year’s Tour de France winner, Marco Pantani, is currently in fifth place. The race is expected to conclude on June 6.

In the European soccer Winner’s Cup, Italian side Lazio beat Spain’s Mallorca 2-1 in Wednesday. The winning goal was scored 10 minutes before full time on a shot from 20 yards by Pavel Nedved.

Paraguay soccer goalie Jose Louis Chilavert was banned from the Argentinian league for 13 months after apparently injuring a player intentionally in 1994. It is expected that Chilavert will transfer to a European club, possibly Liverpool FC.

Also in soccer news, Manchester United clinched the English Premier League title by beating Tottenham 2-1 last Sunday. Arsenal finished second, one point behind.

Finally, in France the French Open in tennis starts this coming weekend. Favorites include Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov, currently ranked no. 1 and winner of the tournament in 1996, and Pete Sampras, who has never won the prestigious clay tournament.