When Kedarling Balakrishna Uchaganve joined the Indian Army in 2018, his ambitions were modest – find a job, support his farming family and serve the country.
Shooting was not even on his radar.
Seven years later, the 27-year-old Naib Subedar of the 27 Madras Regiment is preparing to represent India at the Asian Games, with an Olympic medal at Los Angeles firmly in his sights.
Raised in a small village in Karnataka in a joint farming family, Kedarling had participated in district-level running events but never imagined an international sporting career.
His introduction to shooting came almost by chance after joining the Army, when he was selected during a talent-identification process at its shooting range.
“I did not know much about shooting before joining the Army. I had only heard the name of Abhinav Bindra,” he recalled.