New Belgrade Sports Hall

New Belgrade Sports Hall
Location Belgrade, Serbia
Owner New Belgrade Sports and Business Center
Capacity 5,000 (Sporting events)
7,000 (Musical events)
Opened 1968
Tenants
KK Superfund
ŽKK Partizan
KK Partizan (1969-1990)

New Belgrade Sports Hall (Serbian: Хала спортова на Новом Београду / Hala sportova na Novom Beogradu) is a multi-purpose sports arena located in Belgrade municipality of New Belgrade.

The venue'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. Since 1979 it functions as part of publicly owned New Belgrade Sports Center (JP Sportski 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.

In November 2010, the renovation of Hala was announced for 2011.[1] The new-look renovated venue was presented in late August 2011.[2]

Sports

Hala sportova served as home floor for many Belgrade-based sports teams.

KK Partizan

The most prominent of them all was Partizan basketball club, which played its home games here from 1970 until 1990. 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. Popular commercial radio jingle promoting Partizan at the time was:

Pođimo u Halu na Novi Beograd
da bodrimo Partizan svima nam je drag,
navijačke pesme zapevajmo svi
volimo Partizan jer je najbolji
.

Their finest Hala hour came in the second leg of 1989 Korać Cup final. Playing the Italian club 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.[3]

Other teams

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

Other former basketball occupants included now defunct Beobanka (during the 1990s) and occasionally even nomadic BKK 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.

Concerts

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

Coordinates: 44°49′39.41″N 20°24′23.03″E / 44.8276139°N 20.4063972°E

See also

References