Jonassen to take over as British men's singles coach in July

BADMINTON England has announced former world number two Kenneth Jonassen will take over as Great Britain and England men's singles coach in time for this summer's World Championships in Paris.

The 35-year old has coached the Danish squad since retiring from the sport in 2008 and will continue with that role at this week's All-England Championships in Birmingham and next month's European Championships in Manchester.

But having chased the Dane's signature for a number of weeks, Badminton England performance director Ian Moss confirmed Jonassen will join the British squad on July 12, with the World Championships starting in August.

And with half an eye on October's Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the London 2012 Olympics, Moss admitted the appointment of the five-time European medallist was a step in the right direction for the elite squad.

"Kenneth's appointment confirms our continued commitment to developing a world class singles programme within the GB system," said Moss.

"We are delighted Kenneth has agreed to join us and he will be on board just in time to help prepare our players for the World Championships in Paris in late August.

"He brings a wealth of knowledge to our coaching team and exhibits a real sense of what it takes to create a medal winning environment.

"The long-term aim is to prepare GB singles players for the Commonwealth Games in October, the World Championships in London in 2011 and the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

"We currently have three men in or around the top 30 with Rajiv Ouseph at 23, Andrew Smith at 26 and Carl Baxter at 35.

"We believe Kenneth has the ability not only to move these players forward but also to develop a strong work ethic and focus on singles play for our coaches and athletes working with other promising younger players in the system."

Jonassen, who is current European champion, will get an idea of the size of his job at the All-England Championships in Birmingham this week with Ouseph, Smith and Baxter all in action.

Baxter takes on Japan's Kazushi Yamada in the first round on qualifying on Tuesday while Smith and Ouseph face Eric Pang and a qualifier respectively in the first round proper on Wednesday.

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