New Delhi: Not many would call them medal contenders but Indian hockey captain Sardar Singh foresees a podium finish for his team in the upcoming Rio Olympics if it masters the art of converting half chances into goals.

Sardar admitted that it won’t be easy for the eight-time former champions but exuded confidence of putting up a much-better show at the quadrennial event, where they finished last among 12 teams in the previous edition in London.

“We will do well this time and I am confident about it. Personally, my expectation is a medal and it is quite possible. It will be tough but we can do it and we have proved that in the last 2 years by beating top teams of the world,” a confident Sardar told PTI in an interview. “If we wish to win a medal and beat teams like Australia we will have to convert the half chances that come our way,” he said stressing on the need to be more agile in the striking circle. Citing the example of India’s matches against current world champions Australia in the recent Sultan Azlan Shah Cup where they finished runners-up, Sardar said the need of the hour for the team is to work on its scoring percentage and defence. “We have performed really well (in Azlan Shah Cup) but we need to work on our scoring percentage which was disappointing, especially against Australia. We created a lot of chances in the league match against Australia, our circle entries and shots at goal were more but we shouldn’t have missed those chances,” he said. “In the final we gave away soft goals. So these are the areas we need to work on. Best teams of the world like Australia convert half chances that come their way and we need to focus on these areas now.” The skipper said the key to success for any team in the Olympics would be to peak at the right time. — PTI