Mark Allen suffers shock 5-0 defeat against Chinese amateur Zhao Jianbo in German Masters qualifying

The Antrim man went into the game in excellent form after mounting a stunning comeback against China's Ding Junhui on Sunday to win the UK Championship for the first time.

Allen, who also successfully defended his NI Open title in October, was whitewashed 5-0 by 19-year-old Zhao, who compiled breaks of 85, 77, 61 and 58 to book his place in the ranking event, which takes place in Berlin in February.

The 36-year-old struggled as he only chalked up 42 points in the five-frame thrashing.

Allen joins four-time world champion Mark Selby in missing out on the chance to progress to the last 32 stage of the tournament.

It was a far cry from his rousing performance in the UK Championship final, when Allen looked down and out after falling 6-1 behind a resurgent Junhui before storming back to pocket the £250,000 winner’s cheque.

He also became the first Northern Irishman to win the prestigious crown since Alex Higgins in 1983.

It completed a remarkable tournament for Allen, who had also fought from at least two frames down in each of his previous matches in the tournament, including winning the last three to beat Jack Lisowski 6-5 in their semi-final.

“To follow in Alex’s footsteps is obviously a great achievement,” Allen said on Sunday.

“But I’m trying to create my own legacy in this game and I’m a long way from that yet.”