Badminton England secure Kenneth Jonassen as men's singles coach Badminton England secured a timely boost on the eve of their home Championships when Denmark's Kenneth Jonassen was confirmed as its new men’s singles coach. By Rod Gilmour Published: 3:00PM GMT 09 Mar 2010 Kenneth Jonassen will look to beat Denmark at European Team Championships in April The 35-year-old will take up his role in July in the build up to the Badminton World Championships in Paris later in the summer. For now the move is a boost for Britain's elite singles players ahead of the All England Open in Birmingham. England enter the tournament with no seeds in the five events for the first time. The national governing body has already aimed to overhaul China's dominance by 2012. Jonassen's vision is to "develop new talent that can compete with the best of China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and Denmark." Adrian Christy, Badminton England's chief executive, said: “It has been a long wait to get all the details confirmed but Kenneth is the man our Performance Director Ian Moss has always wanted.” Ian Moss added: “This appointment confirms our continued commitment to developing a world class Singles programme within the GB system. “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." England currently have three players in the world's top 35: Rajiv Ouseph (23), Andrew Smith (26) and Carl Baxter (35). "My personal goals are clear, bringing the singles department to another level on the international stage," Kenneth Jonassen said. "I know it's going to take time and a lot of hard work, but I believe that the talent is there.” Jonassen is the reigning European men’s singles champion, having won in his home town of Herning in 2008 and retiring the same year.
damn you beat me to it cooler, I read about it yesterday, but forgot to post it. it can only be good news for GB badminton.
sorry, didn't mean to over take u i was late posting my german SF paws. Would be happy to trade this for that
I will start by saying this is good news as we will have a player who was a top player to bring our players on. I happen to think he could still beat our top players even now though..........we have had top player coaches before with not much improvement however & if he was that good how come DEN didn't keep him? Finall with respect to the below: If he brings such wealth of knowledge (with barely a year since retiring to coaching), what does that say about the current set up as for the second part, I don't understand what this means, sounds like PR management speak............
I don't think they can match salary with BE and the danish federation probably don't have the MS coaching position open. From what I remember he was coaching the women. Danish coaching setup: http://www.badminton.dk/DBF/Ansatte/Traenere.aspx Looks like he will be performing magic in the near future "Kenneth Jonassen will look to beat Denmark at European Team Championships in April. The 35-year-old will take up his role in July in the build up to the Badminton World Championships in Paris later in the summer." Danish article about it: http://www.dr.dk/Sporten/Oevrig_sport/Badminton/2010/03/08/153954.htm
lol......Cooler what site/paper is this from? mmmm I think if denmark thought he was that good they could "find" a way to keep him..... I agre on the money aspect, ENG sport has too much money thrown at elite level for the output it turns out.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ot...e-Kenneth-Jonassen-as-mens-singles-coach.html maybe denmark already have too much internal talents Well, KJ was trained and had played for a badminton powerhouse outside of asia. Even our canadian nationals went to denmark for some high caliber training. They didn't go to UK So i have to say KJ move would benefit england than the status quo
Oh the shame, I read the telegraph too & they make such a mistake..... I agree, it will Definitely improve our players in some way, but as will al regime changes the players need to be clever & use different coaches wisely. Asian team have good continuity, similar coaches, teaching methods, style etc.. In Eng they are changed frequently, which cannot be good for the players unless they can pull the good out of each of them. Some UK players have played & trained in DEN too - does this then bring a "wealth" of experience? I think not. TXH - That is a "wealth" of experience.............
I have this funny feeling.. ..Kenneth's coaching career might lead him down to M'sia (and end up in BAM) "in the future" (like MF some yrs back; and Rexy who was in the BE before joining BAM; and now Tan Kim Her who is back in BAM after spending some time in BE as well)..
Dane Kenneth Jonassen ready to take English badminton a step further New Great Britain singles coach Kenneth Jonassen has warned players not to expect an easy ride when he takes charge this summer. By Telegraph staff Published: 7:30AM BST 12 Apr 2010 The former world No 2 was last month named by Badminton England as the man to drive the nation's singles players towards the London 2012 Olympics. The 35-year-old will primarily oversee the development of England's players at their Milton Keynes base but will take charge of all the British elite as the build-up to the Games intensifies. He will be present at the European Championships this week where England and Denmark will look to take a stanglehold of the medals in Manchester. England's top men's singles players Rajiv Ouseph, Andrew Smith and Carl Baxter are ranked 23, 26 and 35 in the world respectively and Jonassen wants immediate improvement. The 35-year-old said: "When they think they have reached their limit, I want to push them more. "I will show them we need to examine every part of their game to see if we can improve that. Read completely through telegraph.co.uk -- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ot...to-take-English-badminton-a-step-further.html
I adore Kenneth Jonassen's playing style and his spirit on the court. His defense is so bold, yet he smashes so hard when on the comfort backline position. May England's MS improved with him as the coach. At least on the same par with Denmark's MS caliber
Congratulations to Badminton England for securing such a dedicated and hardworking coach. What a scoop! I'm sure the English MS players can learn a lot from Kenneth Kenneth has been Danish centercoach - alongside Morten Frost - since the 1st of December 2008. He has also been the head coach af the Danish badminton club Greve for at least 4 years (can't remember excatly when he started). BTW he just led the club to it's 2nd gold i 3 years 4 days ago, when he won the deciding single match in the finals. According to this article (in Danish), the Danish BA would have liked to keep Kenneth, but he choose the English offer primarily because he wanted a new bigger challenge and an opportunity to work on his own.
I agree it is a great appointment. I just think if KJ is offeres a wealth of experience (Club coach 4 yrs national coach 2 years), our current set up must be pretty poor. If he wants to work on his own, more power to him.....Hope he succeeds
It's not that the Dane's don't want him, its more like they either can't find a position for him or can't match what the English are offering. I have a feeling that England is a bit desperate and pressured as the 2012 Olympics are coming to their homeland. Plus this could be good for Jonassen as it will show what impact a foreign coach can have. If Jonassen can get some of the English players up to the top ten, then it will prove that coaching is a critical part of professional badminton and does not rely on cultural innate talent. (China, Korea, Denmark, Malaysia) Plus the Dane's have Morten Frost. I hope no one has a problem with KJ going to a rival team, it's just business. And a profession. Good luck Kenneth Jonassen.
It's like badminton is more and more becoming a professional sport.. Now coaches change change country like football coaches..
..and add, recently, Tan Kim Her to the list too..And 3 of the 4 names above had coached or is currently coaching in M'sia..