Sporting world is caught up in the havoc of volcanic ash

THE volcanic ash cloud which has shut down air travel in Britain could also have dealt a major blow to Liverpool's chances of securing a Champions League spot.

They could go into Monday night's must-win match against West Ham without star striker Fernando Torres, who has been unable to travel to Spain to see a specialist about his knee.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez will not risk Torres until he has had an examination.

Uefa are monitoring the situation ahead of next week's Champions League and Europa League semi-finals. Liverpool are due to travel to Madrid ahead of Thursday's match against Atletico while Fulham face Hamburg in Germany in the first leg of the other Europa League last-four clash. The Scotland Under-19 squad made it back to Glasgow from Luxembourg yesterday afternoon. Their flight was cancelled after a friendly match on Thursday, but returned to Hull by ferry and travelled by coach to Glasgow.

The ongoing closure of British air space because of the eruption in Iceland has caused problems for a number of other sports teams.

Great Britain's ice hockey team are travelling to the World Championships in Slovenia by bus and train but have managed to negotiate a delay for their opening match against Croatia today. They were due on the ice at 1pm local time but do not expect to arrive in Ljubljana before midday, so the International Ice Hockey Federation moved the match back to 4.30pm.

This weekend's Magners League fixtures are all expected to go ahead. Ulster made their way to Scotland by ferry for their match against Glasgow last night, while Ospreys did not have to travel to face Leinster – because they did not return to Wales following their match at Ulster on Tuesday.

With Cardiff Blues and Munster both travelling within their own countries to Scarlets and Connacht respectively, it is only left for Edinburgh to make their way to Wales to face Newport Gwent Dragons in tomorrow's fixture.

Rugby league's Carnegie Challenge Cup fourth-round fixtures have also been affected and Salford hit the road in an attempt to ensure Sunday's tie against Catalans Dragons in Perpignan goes ahead. The Reds were due to catch a flight to France but headed down to Dover to catch a ferry.

St Helens' Challenge Cup match against Toulouse has been put back by two hours to allow the French side more time to travel to the UK. The game was due to kick off at 6pm this evening but will now start at 8pm. The match between Widnes and Lezignan is still scheduled to go ahead as planned at 6pm tonight subject to the French team being able to fly to Britain.

In hockey, the Scottish Girl's U16 squad were unable to travel to Cologne for matches against the German U16s, but the GB Super League is set to go ahead this weekend at Peffermill after teams managed to re-arrange travel plans.

Scotland's senior women are still due to fly out to Chile tomorrow for the World Cup Qualifiers in Santiago.

Golfer Ross Kellett's build-up to his first cap for Europe in the Bonallack Trophy next Wednesday has been disrupted.

The Colville Park 22-year-old, who will team up with fellow Scot James Byrne, had been set to leave for Bangalore yesterday but remained grounded last night. With Kellett stuck in Scotland, Arizona-based Byrne made progress by travelling to India via New York.