Leyla Hasso

Leyla Hasso, London Women's Champion of Super Mario Kart

Introduction

Leyla Hasso is a female SMK player from London, UK. She has been active on and off in SMK from 2004 to 2007 then pursued an interest in MKDS until receiving a Wii for her 9th Birthday in 2008. Leyla has been one of the youngest active karters on any of the kart sites and also achieved a Women's British Record on Choco Island 2 Fastlap for SMK. Leyla is still currently ranked the #1 Female Karter in London. She is perhaps most famous for defeating top MKDD player Vincent van der Fluit in a SMK Grand Prix 150cc Mushroom Cup tournament for karters around their skill level. These videos are available on youtube and have also been created into a DVD.

Early years of SMK

Leyla was born in 1999 and took an interest in games after a few years due to her Uncle Sami Cetin and his SMK activity. At first she played with the GBA on some basic games, then officially joined the Super Mario Kart Time Trial World Records Site in Summer of 2004 at age 5. Her initial competitor on Time Trials was Tanja Huber of Germany who turned 6 and presented a good challenge as they both started out on the site. Leyla defeated her and passed a few more karters till she stopped playing.

Leyla Hasso vs Louise Bedford on SMK Match Race

On the 29th April 2006 Leyla attended a UK Meet held by Sami Cetin. A mini beginners SMK Tournament was set up and Leyla entered using Toad. Her big moment came when she raced UK rival Louise Bedford. The Race on Mario Circuit 2 was intense. Leyla started off badly but made an amazing comeback towards the end, firing a red shell to destroy a green and with great cornering managed to defeat Louise on the final lap. Another break from SMK happened shortly following this meet.

Comeback to SMK in 2007 with Bowser

During 2007 Leyla returned to SMK with Bowser on several tracks to make some faster times, she became the fastest female SMK player in London and 2nd fastest in the UK. She switched to Toad on a few tracks, then one day after several attempts she managed to drive a Women's British record on the fastlap of Choco Island 2 with Toad, beating the time of Sue Cladingboel by a few hundredths. One of her proudest achievements was reaching 1'03" on Mario Circuit 1 Time Trial, close to the record of her father Karim. Leyla also played a lot of the Grand Prix mode also and developed good skills there, enjoying 150cc Mushroom Cup.

Leyla Hasso joining Team UK, prepares for her SMK Tournament final, October 2007

Leyla Hasso vs Vincent van der Fluit

A Tournament was organised on the 25th Birthday of Leyla's Uncle Sami Cetin in October 2007. This included karters of the Intermediates to Beginners on SMK. Leyla joined 'Team UK' (as established by Jonathan Sifleet) in the tournament and wore her own t-shirt with 'London Women's Champion' for Super Mario Kart written on the back. 8 players entered the Tournament which would be set on 150cc Grand Prix mode of Mushroom Cup. The battles were fantastic, Leyla had an early match vs Lindsay Molenaar of the Netherlands who visited also. Leyla advanced to the later rounds. Vincent van der Fluit defeated the remainder of strong UK players including John Barber, placing Leyla and Vincent in the final. Leyla selected Bowser and Vincent Selected D.K.Jr and the final began... The races have been taped and are available on youtube and on DVD.

Here was a breakdown of each race of the final along with their associated video links:

• First Race : Mario Circuit 1 (video link)

The race begun and Leyla as Bowser got off to a bad start, with Vincent getting a boost start and taking the lead. By the end of lap 1, Vincent was armed with a Red shell and reached 1st place, Leyla was approaching the rest of the CPU racers. She made quick work of the CPU racers receiving a Mushroom in lap 2, however she clipped some sand at the start of lap 3 at 4th place heading to 3rd. She picked up another Mushroom in lap 3, using that at the end of the lap as she made further gains on Vincent up to lap 4. The first part of lap 4 was on error on Leyla's part as she took a risk to overtake Vincent when he had the red shell. He fired and unfortunately she was knocked off the road into the grass. The crowd let out a sigh of disappointment as this could have cost her the race. She continued to make a catch up in lap 4, approaching Koopa Troopa (CPU) with a well timed Green shell that caused her to overcorrect her turn at the start of lap 5. It didn't look possible for Leyla to win this race, however Vincent ahead had a Mushroom thrown in front by the CPU Toad that shrunk him. The CPU Toad went ahead to win the race as Vincent struggled as Mini D.K.Jr. He did however pick up a Mushroom. Leyla was speeding through 3rd place desperately trying to catch up, the crowd starting cheering as she also collected a Mushroom. Vincent used his to cut across the dirt on the 2nd to last corner. Leyla's top speed was catching up fast as she cut the corners, Vincent approached the last corner but his speed failed him, Leyla cut in and shroomed to the finish line ahead of Vincent as the audience let out a loud cheer.

• Second Race : Donut Plains 1 (video link)

The second race Leyla realised the overall battle wasn't going to be easy, she managed to land a well timed boost start, this time with Vincent stuck at the line. She zoomed off at high speed collecting a green shell which she threw away, Vincent was fighting his way through at the back not building as much speed up. Leyla collected the next weapon, another green but threw that as she came to lap 3 following a few cornering errors towards end of lap 2 that she recovered nicely. Vincent's Star on lap 2 looked promising to help catch up however it only gained him a position. On lap 3 Leyla had picked up a banana and sighted Vincent in the distance approaching the Bridge, throwing at ahead of her and nearly hitting him with it! Vincent was still fighting for 5th place as he approached his 4th lap. As Leyla reached the 5th lap she could see Vincent ahead and was set to lap him, however he received a Lightning from the Item Boxes, using it immediately to shrink Leyla and the other CPU racers. This would work to his advantage to help him catch up. However Leyla had built too much of a lead. Vincent was making a gain to the high ranks but got caught on the wall of the final corner of his lap 4. Leyla's Bowser grew to full size and she approached the last corner to almost lap Vincent as he approached his final lap, but as her top speed was not so great, she got caught on the last corner wall in a similar way, but went on to win the race due to her early fast lead.

• Third Race : Ghost Valley 1 (video link)

Leyla and Vincent both got off to a bad start at the beginning of lap 3, but Vincent was determined to keep up the pace on this track, having recently made a faster Time Trial Record than Leyla so he was familiar with the racing lines. Vincent took some sharper turns and took the lead in lap 1, with Leyla getting stuck at the back towards the end. Leyla received a Mushroom in lap 2 and Vincent a feather. Leyla opted to do the Mushroom to bumper jump but decided not to go for the platform as it may risk her position, so she took an interesting turn to the right to land in the open space, cutting off less time but keeping the speed up. Vincent skillfully jumped the gap to the platform with the feather and cornered to the finish line to meet Leyla equally at the line again; the battle would continue into lap 3. Leyla pushed ahead into 1st place with the Top speed and some sharper cornering. Vincent also made it into 2nd and continued to pursue Leyla only a few seconds behind. Leyla played defensively leaving behind a Green shell and later a banana, then as Vincent passed the items on lap 5 he hit a wall causing him to lose some speed, but remain in 2nd for the moment. However he hit another wall and fell into 3rd as Leyla sped ahead to win the race. Vincent had an accident on the following corner where he hit a block then fell off into the hole. This cost him the race and after another error at the end he came 7th on Ghost Valley 1.

• Fourth Race : Bowser Castle 1 (video link)

At the start of Bowser Castle 1, Vincent put on a good show raising his pad to help him time his boost start which he managed to reach, however Leyla failed hers. However with accurate cornering and meeting both zippers, Leyla quickly advanced into 2nd place shortly behind Vincent in the lead. Leyla then overtook Vincent at the start of lap 2, overpowering with Top Speed. Vincent fired his green shell too attack and Leyla had to make evasive maneuvers causing her to crash on corner 2, with Vincent taking 1st place lead once again. Vincent then had a crash at the end of lap 2, firing another Green shell as Leyla passed him, narrowly missing a hit and Leyla took the lead on lap 3 with the CPU catching up with Vincent. Leyla extended her lead and both competitors didn't receive any particular weapons of interest. Vincent caught back up to 2nd place as Leyla made an amazing corner on the last turn to land riding the left wall without touching it, she immediately corrected into lap 4. Vincent had an error on the jumps and fell into the lava once as Leyla continued to speed ahead towards the 5th and final lap. Vincent used a feather to save him from a crash on the final corner of his lap 4. Leyla's top speed was excessive at this stage and she was lapping a CPU while avoiding a stray Yoshi Egg on the track at the hairpin. Vincent picked up a lot more speed to stay ahead of the CPU in 2nd as Leyla reached the finish, winning the race also landing a 0.02 cut on her then current BC1 150cc PR.

Leyla Hasso winning her Tournament Final in Super Mario Kart vs Vincent van der Fluit

• Fifth Race : Mario Circuit 2 (video link)

Leyla got a zoom start on Mario Circuit 2 and went for it cutting corners very sharp to gain a huge lead. Vincent got off to a bad start in 8th place throughout lap 1 while Leyla stormed into lap 2. Leyla was on fast approach to lap Vincent as she headed towards lap 3, and Vincent was still struggling to reach 7th. However Leyla over corrected and hit a pipe after the first corner putting her speed to a complete stop. She began to drive again after. Vincent picked up a star making it into 7th place but some controlling difficulties led him off the road into the green after the jump, with Leyla picking up speed once again and lapping him at the end of lap 3. Leyla picked up a Mushroom on lap 4, and was speeding round the track again, however a well placed green on the previous lap was in the way and she crashed into it where the flyover is. On the hairpin corner before the jump as Leyla was accelerating she got caught up a CPU that caused her to turn inwards and be stuck on the corner. Vincent, still a lap behind also made an error crashing into that same corner. Both karters were then stuck there for some moments as CPU passed Leyla. When she acceleratedshe used her Mushroom on the jump but didnt time it as well and went off the road a little on the far side. She was in 6th place and it was her last lap, 4th for Vincent. The crowd reminded her that she needed to come at least 4th to advance the race, and thus win the tournament. Vincent fought his way to try to reach some CPU karters. Leyla picked up another Mushroom, the weapon that she would need. When approaching the last corner, the audience were cheering for her to reach 4th as Vincent approaching with a Mushroom (one lap behind) also wished to take the jump the same way. Leyla then shroomed and passed the CPU to land 4th and advance the race the same moment as Vincent shroomed to land next to her on the finish line. He then proceeded to finish in 8th with another Mushroom onhis 5th lap. The crowd cheered as Leyla won the Tournament.

Retirement from SMK to play MKDS

Following some more PRs, Leyla stopped SMK as she got a Nintendo DS and begun competing in races on MKDS, however she still played a little SMK from time to time and has shown interest in a comeback some day but she has not confirmed a time for this.

The Wii and taking on a Young Apprentice

Leyla now also plays on the Nintendo Wii and looks forward to playing Mario Kart Wii at some stage and compete in some Time Trials. She has currently been training her younger sister Maia on SMK who has recently finished her first Mario Circuit 1 Time Trial in 2 minutes and 15 seconds, aged 2 years and 8 months. Leyla's career in SMK is still remembered and many who have seen her play are sure that she has the skill to reach #1 in the Women's UK ranking and perhaps the World on PAL if she continued SMK Time Trials.

• Links

Leyla Hasso's SMK Profile