PETALING JAYA: Dane Kenneth Jonassen has a huge task ahead of him to transform the fortunes of the national singles shuttlers.
But the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) believe Kenneth is the right man for the job after appointing him as the new singles head coach.
The 50-year-old, who stepped down as head coach of the Danish badminton team after 11 years, has been tasked with producing players capable of challenging for gold in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Kenneth will officially start work next year on Jan 4.
National coaching director Rexy Mainaky said Kenneth's experience in guiding the likes of two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen and 2019 World Championship silver medallist Anders Antonsen made him the best candidate for the role of head coach.
"We feel Kenneth is the best man to improve the level of our singles players," said Rexy in a press conference after a BAM council meeting at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
"This decision was not taken lightly. We had a few candidates from Asia as well. We feel that Kenneth is the right coach for us as he is vastly experienced.
"He has a proven track record and has turned Axelsen and Antonsen into top players. We want him to work with both our coaches and players in lifting the level of the singles."
Kenneth will head both the men's and women's singles teams and will report to Rexy.
He will be working with K. Yogendran and Alvin Chew (men's singles) and Jeffer Rosobin and Misbun Ramdan (women's singles).
Currently, the senior men's singles players are Leong Jun Hao, Justin Hoh, Ng Tze Yong and Eogene Ewe while K. Letshanaa, Wong Ling Ching, Siti Zulaikha Azmi and Oo Shan Zi are in the women's singles team.
On Kenneth's qualities, Rexy said: "When I started my coaching career in England, Kenneth was still a player and his training base was in England.
"I saw that he prepares meticulously for tournaments. He continued his detail-oriented and hands-on approach in coaching and I could see his players benefit from this. He will bring these to our players too."
"Winning gold in the Olympics is not an unrealistic target for us as we have Justin, who is only 20 now and will turn 24 in 2028. Jun Hao has also done better this year.
"Our women's singles players are still behind at the highest level but they have also improved."
Kenneth, who is here in Malaysia, will speak to the media about his plans in a press conference at ABM tomorrow.
