Dane Kenneth Jonassen is inching towards the national singles head coach job based on the latest development in the badminton circle.
Badminton Denmark has already announced Thomas Stavnsgaard as its new head coach, and he will take over from Jonassen beginning Jan 1.
Former international Hans-Kristian Vittinghus will be its singles coach next year.
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) acting president Datuk V. Subramainaim disclosed a few days ago that the national body will make an announcement on the new coach on Nov 25.
Interestingly, 50-year-old Jonassen confirmed that the China Masters on Nov 19-24 will be his last official duty with the Danish national team.
He confirmed that he will not guide Denmark's national players at the World Tour Finals (WTF) in Hangzhou on Dec 11-15.
Their contenders are World No. 2 Viktor Axelsen, World No. 3 Anton Antonsen and men's doubles World No. 3 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.
Stavnsgaard, a doubles coach, is set to guide Astrup-Rasmussen while Axelsen and Antonsen should be in Hangzhou with their personal coaches.
"I'm in Japan with the Danish team for the Kumamoto Masters and next week, we will be in China for the China Masters," said Jonassen when contacted by Timesport yesterday.
"As we are in competition mode, I won't comment on any personal matter. My personal future plans will be settled within the next month or so."
While Jonassen declined to reveal his plans, he didn't deny news of the BAM approach.
Former international Datuk James Selvaraj believes that Jonassen could be heading to Malaysia.
The other names linked to the job are Indonesian Mulyo Handoyo, who coached former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, Spaniard Fernando Rivas — the coach of Olympic champion Carolina Marin — and Lee Zii Jia's current mentor, Wong Tat Meng.
Since Tat Meng is still in charge of world No. 7 Zii Jia, James said Jonassen should get the nod.
"It looks almost certain that Jonassen will get the job. As a Malaysian, Tat Meng could be a good choice, but he is still with Zii Jia and we don't know what his plans are.
"Jonassen has the experience and he brings in the European coaching philosophy and combines it with our playing style. He can be handy in discarding the 'fear factor' our singles players have when facing elite shuttlers due to his experience of guiding Axelsen and Antonsen.
"Players like (Leong) Jun Hao and Justin (Hoh) have the ability but are not very confident and play inconsistently. It will be important for Jonassen to build up their confidence if he is appointed as the singles head coach."
Jonassen comes with strong credentials as he moulded two-time Olympic champion Axelsen and turned Antosen into a world class player besides guiding Gemke into a top 10 player.
Under him, Line Kjaersfeldt and Mia Blichfeldt made it to the top 20 of the women's singles.
Should he get the job, he will have K. Yogendran and Alvin Chew to assist him in the men's singles with Jeffer Rosobin and Misbun Ramdan Misbun as the deputies in the women's singles.