The phrase "attempt to equal" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing efforts to reach or match a certain standard, level, or achievement.
Example: "In her quest for excellence, she made an attempt to equal the performance of the top athletes in her field."
Alternatives: "strive to match" or "try to attain".
"I usually like to go through a routine," Biron, 28, said by telephone before he lost in his attempt to equal the second-longest winning streak in National Hockey League history Thursday night.
The Brazil international has played his last game for the Premier League leaders, who will attempt to equal a club record 11 successive wins at Crystal Palace on Saturday, before signing a contract worth £350,000 a week after tax with André Villas-Boas's team.
His attempt to equal Discovery's record of eight straight wins was thwarted when he finished third in the Narragansett Special on a sloppy track.
The Swiss's attempt to equal Pete Sampras's Open-era record of seven Wimbledon titles continued in a flurry of clinical serves and majestic ground strokes against the left-handed Mannarino.
A major theme in the first episode is Mr. Allen's $17,000 purchase and subsequent over-the-top restoration of a 1957 Chevy Bel Air, which he (unconvincingly) argues has nothing to do with an attempt to equal or outdo his father's pristine example.
Providing dramatic tension, the gallery's chief competition is Mr. Allen's car aficionado father, Tom Souter, also known as "Roundman". A major theme in the first episode is Mr. Allen's $17,000 purchase and subsequent over-the-top restoration of a 1957 Chevy Bel Air, which he (unconvincingly) argues has nothing to do with an attempt to equal or outdo his father's pristine example.
Moore, meanwhile, will have a full book of rides on the final day of the meeting as he attempts to equal, or even surpass, Archer's remarkable record.
Qualifying was once again dominated by Vettel, who won his ninth pole of the season and the 45th of his career as he attempts to equal Michael Schumacher's record of 13 race wins in the same season.
True, they conceded four tries before half-time against New Zealand last week but the All Blacks, attempting to equal the world record for consecutive Test wins when playing in South Africa on Saturday, are a cut above all their opponents.
Someday — at the U.S. Open in 2018, say — when Djokovic has perhaps surpassed Federer's three hundred and eight weeks as No. 1 (the current record) and is attempting to equal his seventeen Grand Slam victories (the record), fans will flock to the Open to see him and cheer him on, recognizing how consequential his quest is.
The architect Patrick Berger talks of his structure "opening up an east-west axis", with views of the soon-to-be revamped park next door and aligning Les Halles with both the Pompidou Centre and the Palais-Royal and Louvre, grand edifices the Canopy attempts to equal in the scale of its ambition – but not, sadly, in the quality of its execution.
