National coaching director Rexy Mainaky with new BAM singles head coach Kenneth Jonassen during the press conference at Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.— MUHAMAD SHAHRIL ROSLI/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Dane Kenneth Jonassen is not worried about working with a small team of women’s singles shuttlers.
Just before his arrival, the 21-year-old Wong Ling Ching decided to quit the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and that has left the senior squad with only K. Letshanaa, Siti Zulaikha Azmi and Oo Shan Zi.
Ling Ching, who captured gold in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in August, decided to leave BAM to further her studies.
Newly appointed singles head coach Jonassen is unperturbed and is keen to bring back the belief in the women’s singles.
Malaysia have long struggled to produce top talents in the event and the 50-year-old has a tough task ahead of him to develop the players available.
On the challenge ahead of him, Jonassen said: “It’s true that compared to the men’s singles, the results in the women’s singles are not at the same level.
“But this is one of the interesting challenges for me to get to know these young girls and inspire them.
“To be the first to achieve a breakthrough is difficult but they need to see through their training that it is possible and then start working on their belief.
“The desire from within the players has to be key to reach their goals. Ambition and desire has to go hand-in-hand with what we put in on a daily basis.
“Hopefully, with good teamwork, we can establish the belief that a Malaysian women’s singles player can reach the highest level and be competitive.
“There is no question that it will take time but that is a goal for all of us.”
Jonassen has the experience working with Danish players like Line Kjaersfeldt and Mia Blichfeldt and hopes to use some of his knowledge in Malaysia.
Kjaersfeldt and Blichfeldt were ranked as high as No. 16 and No. 11 in the world in 2019.
“When I held talks with Kjaersfeldt and Blichfeldt, I knew that doubt is a huge thing. These girls were also very young when they joined the Danish association and there’s some similarities here,” said Jonassen.
“One of the goals is to give them opportunities early to build that desire to work on a day to day basis. Both men and women’s singles are physically and mentally very tough and these are some of the components we need to improve in the players.
“If you lose, you need to stand up the next day and work hard. If you win, the opponent the next day will probably be tougher, so you need to play better.
“That competitiveness and willingness to go on a long journey and keep believing is so important,” added Jonassen.
