Hala sportova

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Palata sportova
Location Belgrade, Serbia
Opened 1968
Owner New Belgrade Sports and Business Center
Tenants KK Lavovi
Capacity 5,000 (Sporting events)
7,000 (Musical events)

Hala sportova (Serbian Cyrillic: Хала спортова; English: Sports' Hall) is a multi-purpose Indoor arena located in Belgrade municipality of New Belgrade.

The building's actual name is "Palata sportova" (Palace of Sports) but it is widely known by its informal title - Hala. It was built and opened during 1968. Today it functions as part of publicly owned New Belgrade Sports and Business Center (JP Sportski i poslovni centar Novi Beograd). Nearby sports and recreation center "11. April" is also included under its umbrella.

Hala seats up to 5,000 people for sporting events and up to 7,000 for musical events.

[edit] Sports

Hala sportova served as home floor for many sports teams. Perhaps the most prominent being the Partizan basketball club which played its home games here from late 1970s until early 1990s. During this time, famous Partizan players like Dragan Kićanović, Dražen Dalipagić, Vlade Divac, Aleksandar Sasha Đorđević, Predrag Danilović and Žarko Paspalj graced Hala's floor.

Their finest Hala hour came in the second leg of 1989 Korac Cup final. Playing Pallacanestro Cantù (Wiwa Vismara), Partizan came back from the first leg with a 13 point deficit. However, a heroic performance on Hala floor saw them overturn the Italians' lead and win the Cup in high style with a splendid 19-point victory.

Hala has also been home to basketball's KK Novi Beograd, known throughout its history of sponsorships as IMT, Infos-RTM, and Beopetrol while now playing as Atlas. Another current resident is KK Lavovi.

Other former basketball occupants included now defunct KK Beobanka (during the 1990s) and occasionally even nomadic KK Radnički which at one time or another played its home games in just about every spot within Belgrade city limits that has two hoops and a roof.

In addition to basketball, various handball, boxing, karate, aikido, and judo teams trained and hosted matches and events in Hala.

[edit] Concerts

Along with sports, Hala has played host to many shows by a variety of musical acts. They include:

Poster announcing Faithless gig at Hala
Poster announcing Faithless gig at Hala

Coordinates: 44°49′39.41″N, 20°24′23.03″E