Karlsruhe missed a golden opportunity to go second in the Bundesliga behind runaway leaders Bayern Munich when they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday.
Both sides missed chances to snatch three points and a win would have put last season's second division champions second, but the draw keeps them fourth behind Werder Bremen and Hamburg.
There was some crazy soccer at Hanover as local rivals VfL Wolfsburg held them to a 2-2 draw on Sunday.
Brazilian midfielder Marcelinho opened the scoring on 21 minutes for Wolfsburg before Sergio Pinto put Hanover level eight minutes later.
Wolfsburg responded immediately with Germany under-21 international Ashkan Dejagah scoring less than a minute later.
But Hanover's German defender Michael Tarnat struck with a header on 34 minutes as the sides ground out a second-half draw.
On Saturday, Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to six points as they came from behind to beat VfL Bochum 2-1.
Germany under-21 striker Dennis Grote had given the home side an early lead on 11 minutes until French star Franck Ribery equalized after 35 minutes with a deft touch as he flicked Miroslav Klose's pass past the diving Bochum keeper.
And Bastian Schweinsteiger came off the bench to hit the winner on 78 minutes.
Hamburg striker Ivica Olic smashed a first-half hat-trick in just 28 first-half minutes as his side hammered 10-man VfB Stuttgart 4-1 to go third.
This was the champions' eighth defeat in 11 games to leave them 13th in the league, while Hamburg are now up to third.
Werder Bremen took second place with a convincing 3-2 home win over Hertha Berlin.
And last season's runners-up Schalke 04 were held 1-1 at Hansa Rostock as striker Gerald Asamoah scored on 33 minutes for the Royal Blues before defender Marc Stein equalized for the hosts.
German Cup holders Nuremberg lifted out of the bottom three after picking up their first win in 10 games when they hammered Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 while Bayer Leverkusen drew 2-2 with Borussia Dortmund.
Duisburg enjoyed a 2-1 win at bottom side Energie Cottbus on Friday night as Bosnian midfielder Ivica Grlic smashed home his free-kick late in the second half.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
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