TODAY (Friday) will see a proud moment for Isle of Wight born Clint Gardner — a UK number one badminton star with autism taking part in a special Olympics-style home nations event in Scotland.

Representing England, Clint will be taking part in the singles and doubles events over the three-day tournament.

Flying out to Glasgow from Exeter, Clint will be without his established doubles partner John Hooper, who he famously won gold with at the National Special Olympics last year, but feels confident of seeing off the opposition.

Clint, the UK men's number one the past three years, plays county badminton for Devon, as the Island does not have enough players to form a county team.

It will be his second time wearing England colours.

The 34-year-old, who is diagnosed as having autism on the low to medium spectrum, has also represented Guernsey, with great success, in the past.

He said: "I feel the chances of me winning in Scotland are pretty high. 

"Some of the players challenging my UK top spot will not be taking part this weekend, so I'm feeling pretty confident."

He goes into the tournament with big wins in Wimbledon, Derby and Devon recently.

Clint has also been buoyed by bring a new Island-based sponsor on board, namely Crepe Lovers UK, in Ryde, alongside his backer of six years, Victor Europe, which supplies badminton equipment to him and the World Badminton Federation.