sporting chance

plural sporting chances

1. A fairly reasonable chance of success.

   You think he has a sporting chance? I wouldn't call even him a long shot!

   2 more examples

   Whether there was some old solemn feud between those railways, or whether both had united to grant a sporting chance to other means of conveyance, the fact remained that no matter how you juggled with timetables, a three-hour wait at Albany between trains was the briefest you could hope to achieve.

   1957 March 7, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 4.8, in Pnin, Heinemann, page 102

   Professional hunters and trackers die too, in the pursuit of dangerous animals every year. Stones and his client voice reverence for what they call “fair chase”: an ethical distinction observed in certain sporting circles in which the quarry is felt to have a sporting chance of survival.

   2026 April 21, Cal Flyn, “On the trail with the hunters who believe shooting big game can save Africa’s wildlife”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: fighting chance, even chance