So near and yet so far. For those familiar with my bowls record this will prove a familiar tale - making it to the final against the odds and then falling at the final hurdle.

The main twist to the story is that I played from start to finish in glorious sunshine. I've just got back from Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast where I represented the university at the national Australian University Games alongside four other guys - (from left to right in the photo) Adam, Pham, Matt and Dave.

Format was 1 side consisting of 2 pairs and one singles playing in a league of 7 or 6, progressing to knockout stages to determine final positions. We breezed through the league stage without dropping any points, even our weakest pair won most of their games. Competition in the singles was pretty mixed and I recorded a couple of 21-0 scores including one victory inside 6 ends. The toughest match of the league was the final one against Bond Uni. If we lost and Swinbourne won then we would finish in second place and have a tougher draw in the knockout stage. Swinbourne won their game quickly and were soon coming over to check up on us. My singles oponent was more than useful and the game was nip and tuck. One of the pairs games was tight for a while but we pulled through in all three disciplines to top the group unbeaten.

Tactical considerations meant a reorganisation of the team for the semi final and I slotted in to skip one of the pairs. In one way it was a shame because I had enjoyed having a challenging match in the Bond Uni game and the Uni of Queensland singles player would have been a real tough game but we couldn't risk me losing as our two pairs teams as they stood would have struggled to both win. Poor Pham took one for the team and got hammered in the singles but he did drag the game out as long as he could. Matt and Adam's game was close for the first half but they gradually pulled away. Our game was more of an obliteration - I took a bowl out on the first end to pick up a full house and we kept going at the same pace. Definitiely the best I played all week as we went on to win by over 20 shots, the oppo only registering their single shot on the very final end.

Unfortunately I was outvoted on team formation for the final and we reverted back to our original formation. I scraped through my singles game although the last couple of ends were a bit of an anti climax as the result of the match was already known. Our top pair were always a few shots off the pace and they finished first. The biggest surprise was our weakest pair going into the final end all square. Sadly that was as close as it got - the Charles Sturt Uni lead lumped one right on the jack and it stayed there all end. Such is life.

In many ways it was amazing that we came so close. 3 members of our team had never played before. And my 10 years of experience counted for little - don't remember playing on too many 19 second greens in the UK! Add to that the fact that several of our team were playing with bowls which were swinging accross 2 rinks on a long jack and you can see why I didn't fancy our chances. It's not quite honours board material Tim but this silver could have to suffice for your challenge!

But bowling was only part of the fun for the week. It was a great atmosphere at the club - two greens full of bowlers plus another two greens' worth sitting out each round; someone else hooked up their laptop to the soundsytem and had music playing accross the greens; and the club ignored the uni games rules which prohibited alcohol sales. One uni had their team manager chanting through his megaphone all week and Charles Sturt had one of their supporters dressed in a cow costume (in temperatures above 30 degrees!) It was great to meet so many Australian guys and gals my age from accross the country and to bond with my teammates (even if I did want to kill Dave most days). Then there was the opening ceremony at Seaworld, nights out at the local clubs and bars, lazing on the most enormous beach and bodysurfing in the sea which was right outside our apartment block, the support we gave and received from a couple of UWS volleyball guys and the Swinbourne bowlers (and the lack of support from our own uni), and the most perfect weather imaginable all week - a stark contrast to the thunderstorms which greeted me when I stepped out onto the Sydney streets this morning. All in all a great week, on and off the green. Downside: managed to miss over a quarter of my legal history course this week and have over 100 pages to read in 48 hours!