Top Danish badminton player Kenneth Jonassen has been named as the new Great Britain and England men's singles badminton coach.

The reigning European champion and former world No2, who will attend this week's All-England Championships in Birmingham as Danish coach, begins the role on 12 July.

The 35-year-old said he hopes to "develop new badminton talent that can compete with the best of China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and Denmark".

RVBA Head Coach Richard Vaughan commented "I think Kenneth is a great appointment. I trained with Kenneth for two years in Copenhagen, the professionalism he will bring to the set up will be a huge bonus to the GB players. It will certainly give them the opportunity to maximise themselves".

Jonassen's first competitive test will be August's World Badminton Championships in Paris.

"I'm looking forward to the new challenge as head coach of singles in England. My personal goals are clear, bringing the singles department to another level on the international stage," Jonassen added.

Great Britain's men have been without a dedicated singles coach ever since Jonassen's compatriot Asger Madsen left his part-time role in the summer of 2009 and the GB Team are desperate to find a top replacement.

Badminton England chief executive Adrian Christy said: "We are delighted to acquire Kenneth's services. 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."

Team GB's Performance Director Ian Moss said: "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.

"England currently have three men in or around the top 30 in Rajiv Ouseph (number 23), Andrew Smith (26) and Carl Baxter (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."

Although he has no Olympic medals to his name, Jonassen enjoyed considerable success as a player, reaching a career-high world ranking of number two in 2005.

The right-handed twice Danish national champion has won six international Open titles, and in 2008 won gold at the European Championships in his hometown of Herning before retiring to take on his coaching role with Denmark.